The Dark Brotherhood
by Oreana Galena
Summary: A village run by guardians and controlled by the Master Emerald. Zen-Ya thought the love she had for Guardian Spectre would be all she'd have to concern herself with until the dark history of the royal bloodline steadily starts to uproot itself. (AU) (Spectre x OC)
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes**: As noted in my profile, I've been into the Sonic comics since they were published in 1993. However, I don't think anything will compare to my love of the Knuckles' arch and the Brotherhood of Guardians.

Just last year or a bit before—cannot remember—I decided to try my hand at some old fandoms for a bit. Knuckles the echidna/Sonic the hedgehog just happened to be the top of that list to try. As I dabbled a bit, I found an awesome group of peeps and decided to continue this run until I burn out of it. Since the fan base is much bigger and always growing compared to YYH, I have a feeling I'll have more than enough reasons to keep digging away at this.

Anyways, hope you guys enjoy the first fanfic I am going to try a go at.

**Description**: A village run by guardians and controlled by the Master Emerald. Zen-Ya thought the love she had for Guardian Spectre would be all she'd have to concern herself with until the dark history of the royal bloodline steadily starts to uproot itself. (AU) (Spectre x OC)

**Rating**: NC-17

**Musical Inspiration**: "Happy Nation" - Ace of Base (I'm an AB fan-not gonna deny it P: )  
"Kyomu No Naka De Yuugi" - Malice Mizer

* * *

All she could hear was her own heavy breathing at first with a few flashes of the surrounding woods. The trees and bushes were black as the night sky, making it incredibly hard for her to see where she was going. Every time Zen-Ya remembered blinking, it seemed she would close her eyes for more than a mere second, thus, making the images jump about in her head. The sound of a voice off in the distance behind her made the young echidna female stop right in front of a fallen tree that was a foot away from a clearing for a moment to look over her shoulder nervously.

She was panicked, and her body was trembling either from the cold or from the overwhelming fear that crippled her. Her icy-blue eyes wandered about in thought, as she tried to focus on the voice. Then she heard it again, only a bit louder this time.

"_**Zen-Ya!"**_

The voice sounded frantic and low in tone. It was then it hit her who it was. Turning around abruptly, she had forgotten there was a fallen tree in her path, making Zen-Ya hit it with her stomach at first until placing her hands upon the massive trunk to heft herself over it and land on the opposite side to hurry across the clearing as quickly as possible. She was almost back in the cover of the woods until a hooded figure stepped out of the foliage before she got to her destination.

Digging her heels into the grass beneath her, Zen-Ya brought her hands up to prevent whoever it was from touching her, as their gloved hand was coming right for her. The face hidden no thanks to the starless sky and the hood over their head, Zen-Ya wasn't too certain who it was though she still felt threatened. Right before their hand could reach her, another came from behind the frightened woman and upon the fingers touching her forehead, Zen-Ya's body became taut and everything went blank.

As she struggled to wake, she could hear her name being called again and again. With it getting louder and louder, her eyes finally flew open to find the red-eyed guardian staring at her while holding her wrists down on either side of her. Apparently, she had been tossing in her sleep, and the male echidna was doing his best to keep her settled. Looking frantically about the room, she struggled to remember what had happened before hand. Her head was pounding and her body was sweating for some reason. When she tried to move her arms, the guardian kept her firmly still.

"I…I'm fine, Spectre…" Zen-Ya insisted, as she could hardly move her hands even an inch with how strong he was compared to her.

Spectre gave her a small unsure look before slowly releasing the tight hold he had upon her. "You need to take it easy," said the Mobian, as he stood upright once more in the wood constructed room. "You were thrashing about violently and sweating profusely."

As she moved her right hand up to her forehead, Zen-Ya saw the broken chain dangle before her eyes. Pulling her hand back a bit further, she furrowed her brow in confusion at the sight of the shackle that remained on her wrist. Reaching for the broken chain with her other hand, an image briefly pounded into the back of her mind. She could see herself in a candlelit room with the walls painted in a glowing emerald green with five hooded figures standing about her, but that was as far as the image progressed before it hurt her too much to think more on it.

Spectre noticed her holding her head in pain. His hands remaining at his side, he stayed close by in case she felt dizzy or ill after the prior ordeal. "Are you alright?" His eyes drifted over to the shackle she had previously touched making him ask: "Do you want me to remove that?"

Zen-Ya noticed what he was gazing at and shook her head. "N-No…I feel you should leave it."

Turning on his heels, the guardian wandered over towards the bucket of cold water he kept in the room when Zen-Ya was brought back to the village. Grabbing the handle, he brought it closer to the bed he had put the frightened female upon with a washcloth he also had on the wooden nightstand.

The bed wasn't the most comfortable for Zen-Ya, but she knew it was the best she had. It was very low to the ground and the wooden frame was starting to deteriorate mostly at the headboard, but she wouldn't be surprised if the frame itself was starting to lose its shape. In the past she often debated moving the mattress to the floor and just sleeping that way, but Spectre refused her from doing so, as he didn't want her sleeping on the ground like a poor person. Shaking the uneasy images from her mind, she watched as the guardian dipped the cloth into the water before wringing it out firmly. She bit at her lower lip, eyeing Spectre curiously up and down. "What…happened…?"

Spectre paused in what he was doing. It took him a moment before he was able to find the courage to even move his hands just to the edge of the bucket in front of where he was kneeling. "You got startled and ran off," he said simply, carrying that same neutral tone in his voice.

"You're being more vague than usual, Spectre," Zen-Ya felt the desire to point out. When his hand started to come over towards her with the dampened towel, she gently grabbed onto his wrist. "What happened…? I hardly…remember a thing."

The robed echidna continued to stare at Zen-Ya with that same blank look. It was always hard for her to judge what could possibly be going through his mind when he did such a thing. Of course, she knew it would be wise to see him in such a stance than see him furious—something she had seen before and hoped to never see again. "I am telling you what I know," Spectre said seriously. "I was walking about the village on my rounds, and I saw you stumble out into the open; you looked panicked. I couldn't get a coherent word out of you before you took off as you did."

Gently clenching onto the covers over her, she struggled to try and make sense of the images in her head. When she felt the cold cloth upon her warm forehead, she almost jerked away until realizing what it was. Zen-Ya could see the confused look in his eyes, making her whisper an apology. "I don't know why I am so jumpy. I guess I…I just don't know why I would forget all that I did." Moving her blond and brown hair out of her line of sight for a second, she did her best to get answers out of Spectre. "How long was I out for?"

"Three days, I think," Spectre answered. The guardian rarely kept track of the days. Whenever the sun was supposed to be up in the sky, it was usually very foggy and the clouds were thick and gray, almost making it seem like just another form of night. When she relaxed again, he went back to trying to cool her off.

Zen-Ya continued her struggle to get the memories to unfold a bit clearer, but it was still to no avail. She did remember that there was a cloaked figure that was trying to stop her as well as someone who grabbed her from behind. "Who brought me back…? Was it one of the other guardians?"

Once again, Spectre's answer was simple: "Sabre and Sojourner did."

She watched as he put the washcloth back on the edge of the bucket when he found himself finished. Zen-Ya couldn't help but shake her head at it all. He was doing his best to prevent from giving her as much information as he could, it seemed. Was Spectre intentionally holding back on her? It seemed odd for someone who vowed to protect her years ago. Wouldn't the truth do so more than a lie? "You're always so stubborn," she muttered, though she was aware Spectre could easily hear her gripe.

"So I've been told," grunted Spectre, as he got back to his feet once more to move the water elsewhere in case he may need it again for later. As he moved the bucket near the entryway to their room, he sighed a bit in defeat. A part of him wanted to tell her he was doing this for her own good, but he knew that would just arise more questions he was forbidden from answering.

Zen-Ya looked from her clenched hands to Spectre yet again to watch as he seemed to glide across the floor to where he had a candle lit to help illuminate the room a bit better. Grabbing onto the curved candleholder to lift it off of their wooden dining table, he ventured over towards the woman once more. She was often amazed at how he never made a sound. Everybody else always made the floorboards moan underneath their weight. While he had told her past wives were a bit startled by it, she couldn't help but be mesmerized and a bit curious as to what made his movements so quiet.

The metal helmet and the shadowed features of the dark furred echidna were kissed by the candlelight, as he brought the flame a bit closer to himself, so Zen-Ya could see him a bit better. "You best sleep. You're far from feeling one hundred percent better, I see." He moved the candle over to the nightstand, which was at par with where the young woman's head was. "Did you want me to blow the candle out?"

Her icy-blue eyes shifted to the candle flame to watch it dance for a moment. Staring into it after awhile, she swore she could hear voices hissing back and forth in her mind. Her eyes narrowing, as if to concentrate on the whispers, Zen-Ya could make little sense of them. Hearing Spectre call her name, it snapped her from her train of thought. "Oh—umm—no," Zen-Ya finally answered with a dismissive wave of her hand. "It's fine. Leave it."

Spectre merely nodded, leaving the candle where he placed it. Looking about the cramped living space, his eyes wandered over to the antique clock on the wall to note the time. It was nearing midnight from what he could see, prompting the elder to head towards the other entryway that was in their room. It was a simple sliding door across from the kitchen that led outside to a small balcony, which held a staircase that led down to the village; the other entrance, which was at the northern part of the room and not far from where Zen-Ya's bed was, led out into a corridor consisting of many other rooms and passageways about the main building.

"You're leaving?" Zen-Ya asked, sounding a bit unsure about his departure. She had just woken up from quite the ordeal, and while Spectre was far from the obvious nurturing type, she wanted him to at least be there.

His hand was merely on the handle at that moment when Spectre leaned back a bit to peek over past the archway of the room to catch his charge's eyes. "I am merely doing so for a moment," he assured her. Spectre's red oculars shifting back to the door before him, he closed them as if to gather his thoughts before saying: "I shouldn't be long."

All she could do was watch his shadow disappear behind the door he closed behind him given the oddly placed archway in their room that skewed her path of sight to that entrance. With the elder gone, Zen-Ya released a nasally sigh before resting her head back upon the pillow. Facing the candlelight, she tried her best to get the voices to come back and tease her senses once more, but she heard nothing. All was silent.

_Praying for voices_, she thought before closing her eyes in an attempt to get settled. _What kind of a crazy echidna have I become…?_

She wasn't sure how long she would remain out for. Zen-Ya hadn't paid attention to the time on the clock, which was right on the wall across from where she slept. However, she could have sworn she heard crying…and that crying sounded very familiar.

_Sister Lara-Le…?_ Zen-Ya thought to herself.

The surrounding darkness in her mind soon made way for a saddened Lara-Le. Her knees to her forehead, she was crying quietly to herself. It was as if she didn't wish for anybody to hear her sadness. Everything else was dark. Zen-Ya couldn't make anything out, but it mattered very little, as the image was soon disrupted by the sound of nearby whispers.

"You're damn lucky we managed to get her back, Spectre!" Came a silent, yet very furious tone from the other side of the doorway.

Her eyes fluttering open, Zen-Ya saw that the candle had burned all the way down to nothing (or possibly drowned in its own wax). Looking about the room, she realized that the voices were coming from the other entryway, which led into the bedroom hallway. Moving the covers from her body, she quietly pressed her feet to the old floorboards to tiptoe a bit closer to the door. Feeling the dining table was good enough of a distance, she stood there to listen.

"She didn't get away. I thought that's all you cared about, Finitevus," Spectre seemed to growl in return.

"She's _**your**_ responsibility," retorted Finitevus irritably in return. "She was the pathetic soul you picked out from this village; now, do your damn job in this, or I will have your head!"

When Zen-Ya heard Finitevus angrily stomp away down the hallway, she looked about the room frantically before hurrying as quickly back to the bed as she could. The last thing she wanted was Spectre to know she had been eavesdropping, let alone not doing what he asked. As soon as she had pulled the covers up to her neck to pretend to sleep, she heard the door creak open.

Expelling an irritable sigh, Spectre shut the door quietly behind him. Looking ahead to think on a few things, he soon shook the thoughts from his mind before pulling away from the door and heading back towards the bed where Zen-Ya 'slept'. He stared down at her long and hard making the female incredibly uncomfortable. She could always tell whenever he was looking at her. A part of her was worried he actually heard her scamper about the room earlier and was going to lecture her for it.

Instead, however, she heard his tattered attire whip about slightly, as Spectre moved from where he stood by the bedside. Releasing a quiet sigh of relief, her chest tightened when she heard his voice.

"If you needed something, you could have asked," said Spectre, as he leaned against the wall near the foot of her bed.

Relaxing her body, Zen-Ya blew an exasperated breath upwards to toss about her messy, bi-colored hair. "You're impossible to be sneaky around," she grumbled, as she moved onto her back to look over at the guardian. "I guess I just didn't want to…disrupt the exchange between you and the doctor."

Crossing his arms across his chest, Spectre closed his eyes as if to avoid the topic. "You wouldn't have been disrupting anything important," he said simply.

That was another thing that always baffled her about the elder. He never had another bed in the room and always slept standing up or sitting down. To Zen-Ya, that didn't seem quite comfortable. Moving over a bit, she motioned to the empty spot on the bed. "You can join me if you like?" She offered, motioning to the empty area beside her.

Opening his eyes, Spectre could just see in the lightless room the free space she had given him on the bed that was practically built for two. "No, I'm fine," replied Spectre with a simple wave of his hand.

Smiling briefly at him, she tried to do her best to put on a playful pouting tone. "So you don't care for me, do you?" While not ceremonially married, Zen-Ya did view Spectre as her mate and vise versa. Hearing the confused hum in his voice, she couldn't help but chuckle to herself at how the comment caught him off guard. "You know I'm not going to bite you or anything." Putting on a more serious rhythm to her words, Zen-Ya rolled her shoulders. "I guess after recent events I want you to be a lot closer than you usually are."

"I am right here," Spectre said, as the obvious seemed to go over his head.

Zen-Ya narrowed her eyes at his obliviousness. "I said _**closer**_ than you usually are." Twiddling her thumbs, Zen-Ya looked over at the opposite wall where the clock and dining table was. "Ever since I met you, you've become increasingly distant."

"You were aware of who and what I was before you accepted my hand," explained the guardian, his dark outline the only thing she could really see though his helmet was coming a bit into focus. "I am sure you've even heard rumors throughout the village regarding my personality. Why would you accept me for who I am if that alone is not enough for you?"

"It's not that," Zen-Ya insisted quickly, almost offended he would think she was intent on changing him. "I guess, there are just moments I want you to do something simple like…" She paused, scrunching her nose up to think of anything simplistic he could do. "…I don't know, I guess sit down on the bed for a moment when I'm not feeling my best."

"Is that what you want?" Spectre's voice asked in the darkness.

Zen-Ya didn't answer. A part of her felt a bit disheartened that she had to tell him to do anything of the sort. She did accept him for who he was. Just his mere presence alone was enough to put her at ease. Asking him to be more loving would probably seem more like an insult to the guardian, so Zen-Ya merely bit her tongue.

As all these thoughts rushed through her, she felt the bed slightly sink to the right of her, indicating that Spectre was sitting there now beside her. Even in the darkness, she could see that he was looking at her. It was hard for the darkness itself to stamp out his crimson colored eyes. Even though she was sure he couldn't see it, Zen-Ya managed a relieved smile. Reaching nervously over to him, she found his arm and held onto it tenderly. She wasn't expecting him to react, so she just let him remain there on the bedside.

Feeling her arm about him, Spectre hesitantly moved his free hand. He was about to place his gloved hand on her own, but he stopped and he withdrew it back to where it was beside him. The painful reminder stinging his heart, the old guardian merely turned his head to look down at the floorboards he knew were there before shifting his sight back upon Zen-Ya. "I am sorry the prior exchange woke you. You should continue to sleep, however."

Taking in a steady breath, the young woman moved closer to her mate to nuzzle against his arm. When she closed her eyes to just enjoy his presence, the images of that night started to beat rapidly against the back of her head again. It caused her to release a displeased moan before placing her hand on the back of her head to run her fingers through her orange fur. "My head still hurts," she whispered to Spectre, not explaining why, as a part of her felt it would be unwise to explain what she was seeing in random bursts.

Continuing to gaze down at her in the lightless room with a neutral expression, Spectre moved his arm out from her embrace to help her lie back down upon the used mattress. He could feel she was going to put up less of a resistance as her body was going a bit slack from exhaustion. With her head soon upon the pillow, he moved the covers up to her chest at least to let her sleep. He didn't move from where he sat, as he knew that would merely give her more of a reason to fight to stay awake. Resting his arms upon his thighs, he kept his eyes fixated onto her to make sure she did do as he asked of her.

When not a single word was said for a few minutes, the guardian could easily tell that she was asleep once more. Removing his helmet in the darkness, he gently placed it off to the side to massage his forehead with a frustrated sigh. _I'm sorry about the mess I've gotten you into, Zen-Ya_, thought Spectre to himself. _Know that whatever happens, I am sorry._


	2. Chapter 2

With all the pain that was previously racing through her body, Zen-Ya managed to sleep peacefully throughout the rest of the evening. Her fingers tensing later on that coming morning, she could feel the old mattress underneath her slight grip. Opening her eyes to the room she shared with Spectre, she found everything to be quiet and undisturbed. Using her right forearm to prop herself up, Zen-Ya looked about the room to try and find the guardian. "Spectre…?" She called, only to be greeted with silence.

There were no windows in the room. This made it hard for Zen-Ya to know what was really going on outside. All she had was the clock on the opposite wall to tell her what the time of day was. Spying that the time was inching close to 8:34 in the morning, she hummed in thought at where Spectre could have gone to. Resting fully on her elbows, the young echidna flinched from the pain that soon struck her left arm.

Hissing from the minor soreness, Zen-Ya removed that elbow from the mattress to look at the mark she hadn't noticed in the dark room last night. It looked as though she had a nasty burn, which covered a majority of her elbow and a bit above it. Zen-Ya's orange fur was completely burned off on the area, and the skin, which was exposed, looked irritated in some fashion. _What in the god's name…?_ She wondered, touching the skin to merely flinch again.

However, upon touching the burn, images began to resurface in the back of her mind. Her surroundings black, she saw herself chained with her wrists down on a hard, wooden floor with her feet shackled into place as well. She was crying heavily with her head lowered. _**"Please…please, don't…!"**_ Zen-Ya saw herself begging over and over, her voice echoing in the back of her mind. Sharp pain obviously struck her body at that point, as her figure straightened up, and she screamed in the memory.

Her fingers slid upwards from over her eye to her blond and brunette mixed hair, which was a huge, wavy mess at that moment. It was starting to drive her crazy. How could she forget everything that happened in one night? Dwelling upon it, Zen-Ya was snapped from her thoughts when she heard a sudden commotion beyond the main entryway door. It sounded like a clatter of sorts.

"Dammit!" Swore a familiar voice from beyond the closed door.

Removing the covers from her body, Zen-Ya embraced herself from the minor cold that nipped at her. Hurrying over to the main access to her living quarters, she opened it to see Thunderhawk kneeling there on the opposite side of the door. The guardian was muttering and swearing under his breath at the mess that he had made there on the wooden boards beneath him. It looked like assorted parts of metal to Zen-Ya. "Brother Thunderhawk?" She called, hoping to catch his attention, as she squatted down to his level.

Hearing his name being called, the guardian jerked his head in Zen-Ya's direction showing her voice startled him. "Oh—umm—why, hello, Zen-Ya," Thunderhawk said, shifting his focus back on the materials, which were still a bit scattered on the floor. "Sorry if I woke you. I was just…I was bringing these things to Kragok."

His tone sounded a bit off to Zen-Ya. Usually he was in a pleasant mood, but he seemed a bit panicked. It felt as though he wanted to spend as little time with her as possible, as she noticed he was quickly grabbing up the metal a lot faster this time and tossing them in the box he had. "Is something wrong…?" She asked, tilting her head to the side. "I mean, I can help you—."

"No!" Thunderhawk insisted, almost with a growl before seeing the rather startled look on her face. Relaxing his features, his blue eyes shifted about nervously before finally tossing in the last piece there on the old floorboards and getting back to his feet. "I mean—it is fine. I've got this. Thank you." His words were rushed, and he seemed to back away from her like she was ill with the plague. "It was…it is nice seeing you're alright, Zen-Ya."

She raised a brow at his comment, wondering what he meant by that.

That look alone was enough to nearly make the guardian take off running for some reason. "I better get going," he said quickly, turning on his heels and hurrying off down the corridor and to another that connected to that one further down on the right.

_He's never acted like that before…_ Zen-Ya thought a bit somberly. She never knew Thunderhawk to be so quick to escape her like that. If anything, he was the one she'd go to for advice when it dealt with Spectre's very emotionless attitude, as Thunderhawk was one of the guardians she found to be the easiest to approach.

Sighing with a shake of her head, Zen-Ya stepped back into her bedroom to think things over for a second. With the door closed behind her, she rested her back against the wooden design before rolling her head back against it to lightly bang her head to try and jog more memories. When it began to merely agitate her minor headache, she stopped and held her head in her hands before stumbling a bit towards the dining table.

She wasn't sure how long she was sitting there tapping her index finger upon her forehead in thought, but the sound of the back door opening was enough to make her look up from what she was doing. Standing at the door was her husband. He had a bag in his hands, from what Zen-Ya could see. "Good morning," she whispered, her voice a bit heavy with thought still.

"Morning," responded Spectre simply in return, as he made it over to the dinner table to place the bag there. Opening it, he began to pull out a variety of fruits and vegetables that he got from the market place in the village. He was sorting them accordingly on the table in the bowl that was there and sectioning them off to what had to go in the storage room to keep refrigerated. His red eyes would occasionally drift over to Zen-Ya before going back to the task at hand. "You look troubled."

"Well, yeah, I am," Zen-Ya said with a rather annoyed tone. "Brother Thunderhawk acted like he was worried to come near me when I saw him out in the hallway a moment ago." She turned in the chair, looking back at the front door with an exasperated sigh through her nostrils.

"He probably had somewhere he had to be," dismissed Spectre, as he wrapped up the bag once more to head to the storage room, which was past their small kitchen space in their living quarters, and disappear into there for a moment to situate the food just past the frame of the door.

"I don't know…" Zen-Ya brought her hands before her on the table's mahogany surface. "Normally I'd be just as dismissive over the thought, but he was acting…strange."

"Was he stressed?" Spectre pried, sounding unfazed by it all still.

"I guess you could say he was," Zen-Ya responded with a shrug of her shoulders. "He said he had to get something to one of the Grandmasters."

"Then that's probably why," grunted the guardian, as he moved a few of the barrels lined with ice to mark what needed to be used first and what needed to be used last. "Whenever Thunderhawk gets stressed over something he has to do, he spares very little words."

"Wish that would explain you as well," Zen-Ya lightly teased, though she was being honest all the same. She saw Spectre stop what he was doing for a moment to give her that same raised brow of confusion at her lighthearted jab at how he was when he stepped out of the storage room. The look alone was enough to make her realize he was probably going to lecture her. "I know; I know," she sighed, waving away at the gaze he continued to give her.

"I only speak when I have something to say," explained the elder, as he finished what he was doing. Shutting and latching the door once more, he wandered over towards where Zen-Ya sat to stand on the other side of the table. Figuring it would be unwise to continue that conversation further, he motioned towards the bowl in the center. "If you've not eaten yet, you're welcome to do so." He paused and looked over at the clock on the wall to remind himself of the time before gazing back at Zen-Ya. "It was a reason I went to the market before you woke as I hadn't…bothered with food in the past few days."

Zen-Ya watched as the guardian turned from her upon admitting that—like he was ashamed over saying that aloud. Looking at the bowl in front of her, she couldn't deny she was hungry. Since Spectre hadn't bothered with much food for the both of them, Zen-Ya removed herself from the table to grab a plate from one of the cabinets in the kitchen before heading back to help herself. "You should eat as well. You never ate a thing in the past few days. I am surprised you're still standing. Compared to the days I can remember, you always gave me whatever was around the house, and you ate nothing."

"I didn't want you to starve," said Spectre, as he went back to the wall near the foot of her bed to rest his back against the wooden surface there. "I can handle myself."

Shaking her head irritably at his behavior, Zen-Ya grabbed an apple from the bowl and made her way over to Spectre. Taking his wrist, she moved his hand so that he would at least grip the apple. "Humor me," she said with a twist of her mouth and a playful glaring.

Spectre took the apple from Zen-Ya. When she wandered back to help herself, he looked at the red apple as if it were some foreign object to him. He couldn't deny he was hungry, but given the past few weeks, his hunger was lessening and lessening. Releasing a nasally sigh, he finally relented and ate the fruit in his gloved hand.

The sight of that alone was enough to put Zen-Ya at ease, as she made it back to the table to put an apple, banana, and a few sweet-pea tomatoes onto her wooden bowl. Placing her elbows on the table, a bit of pain rocketed back through her left arm. The painful reminder shocking her, she hissed with a low moan at the injury she was still unsure how she received.

Catching the displeased moan, Spectre looked over at his mate with a hum of concern. "Is something wrong?" It was then he noticed what she was looking at. His shadowed face broke into surprise at the mark there on her left arm. Hurrying over towards Zen-Ya's side, he grabbed her arm to look at the irritated, exposed skin, which appeared burned. "I didn't…notice this last night."

Very rarely did she hear Spectre actually sound concerned. Hearing it then and there, it almost put her in a state of panic. "What-What is it? What caused it?" She continued to look over the mark, wondering what could prompt a burn like that. "It really hurts."

"Well, stop touching it!" Spectre growled as he witnessed her do so again. He looked about the room wondering what to grab at first. Remembering the medicine cabinet in the washroom, he wondered if he had burn ointment there. Swiftly, he headed to the back room to search for what he needed before reappearing with what he was hoping to find. "I don't have any bandages. This will have to do for now." Ripping a part of his tattered robe, he used that to put the medicine on before wrapping Zen-Ya's burned arm.

As he did so, images began to flash once more. She swore she could hear Dr. Finitevus yelling at guardian Locke about something. Her body was apparently freed, though she still had the broken shackle on her right arm from what Zen-Ya could make out in the dark atmosphere. A hand coming behind her, it grabbed her left arm harshly before she was forced to turn and look at a robed figure behind here.

"_**Get out of here!"**_ The voice echoed to her. It wasn't something she could place so easily, as the tone was warped in her mind. She was crying in the image, and she was unsure how to react to whoever had her. It seemed to merely anger the echidna that held her, as they roared: _**"NOW!"**_

Spectre noticed her staring off at nothing in particular. "Zen-Ya," he called, hoping to bring her back to herself. "Zen-Ya," the guardian said once more before shaking her back from the memory he was unaware she was having.

Massaging in between her eyes, Zen-Ya released a whispered apology. "I don't know what is wrong with me lately."

Spectre struggled to find the right words at first, it seemed. "You had a rough night. You should try to forget about what happened. It would prove wise."

Zen-Ya brought her hands down on the table, making them smack the wooden surface in a fed up manner. "You're almost intent to have me forget about last night when I find myself waking up with a shackle on my wrist and a burn on my arm!"

With her getting defensive, the guardian did so in return with another irritable growl to her. "I'm telling you this, because I don't want you to end up dead!" The startled and hurt look in her icy-blue eyes was enough to make Spectre's knees buckle for a moment. He brought his hand up to his face to massage in between his eyes to try and bring himself back from the anger that had consumed him for a moment. "Forgive me."

She watched as he pulled himself away from the table, leaving the half eaten apple there near her. Feeling a bit guilty she made him lose his appetite, she managed a brief smile. "No, I'm sorry," she expressed quietly, though it was loud enough for Spectre to hear. "I shouldn't be burdening you with my memory loss."

"You're not burdening me," Spectre sighed, as he made his way back over to where he was standing previously. He seemed to be quite intent to remain at that one location. Zen-Ya never bothered to ask him why. The young woman figured he was merely a creature of habit. His arms over his chest, he looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Do me a favor, and promise me that you will not continue with this desire to remember last night. I am telling you it is for the best you forget it."

Zen-Ya began to pick away at the banana she had on her plate when she remembered hearing Lara-Le sobbing in the back of her mind last night. "I should probably go and check on Sister Lara-Le when I am finished. I am a bit worried about her." She didn't want to explain why to Spectre, so Zen-Ya merely kept that part to herself.

"You won't be able to reach her," Spectre said simply, like it was nothing important to him. Granted, it seemed rare his tone ever changed. Closing his eyes, he lowered his head as if attempting to rest. "Sabre is watching over her, as she is a bit beside herself right now with Locke missing."

When he spoke that last word, Zen-Ya noticed there was a bit of minor pain upon it. "Are…is anybody out looking for him?" Zen-Ya asked, her words heavy with concern.

The elder expelled a small sigh to himself. "We all are when we're able." What he meant by that was the guardians usually took turns guarding and watching over those at the village by patrolling it in turns. Given the time of day, Sojourner was the only reasonable choice to actually be out and about looking for Locke, as he would usually do the second shift with Thunderhawk (who she saw earlier) while Locke did the first with Sabre, and Spectre and Finitevus usually did the third.

Regardless of what Spectre was telling her, Zen-Ya felt she had to see Lara-Le. Without Locke there, Lara-Le was no doubt inconsolable. When she finished her food, she moved the bowl to the sink to wash it out thoroughly until putting it back where it usually was. "I'm going to take a walk around Haven. I'll be back later."

Hearing her announce that, Spectre raised his head to watch her walk to the main entryway. "I can go with you since you're against the thought of recuperating."

Though she wanted more than anything to spend time with the guardian, she dismissed the thought with a tender wave of her hand. "No, my love," she said, her words sounding regretful. "I promise I won't be long. I just…I need to free my mind. It feels restless here."

Zen-Ya quietly stepped out into the bedroom hallway. Her room was the second to last one on the right of the corridor, diagonally from Sojourner's bedroom on the left side. Thunderhawk's room was on the right as well, but further down the right side almost across form Sojourner's (making him her neighbor), with Sabre's further up on the left part of the hallway, and Locke's further up on the right, making him also her neighbor in that regard. Dr. Finitevus' room was the very last one in that long stretch of a passageway. Her eyes had drifted down to Finitevus' door, which always remained locked about nightfall when he usually wasn't able to spend his time there with whatever it was he was feverishly working on. After the exchange last night with Spectre, she began to debate going to talk to him first. He sounded angry at the fact Zen-Ya ran from the village as she could at least remember trying to do that last night rather clearly.

Rolling her teeth over her lower lip, she headed down the hall slowly with her eyes locked on Finitevus' bedroom door. The doctor always made her nervous. Whenever he spoke to her, his words sounded venomous, and he seemed to look at her like she, as well as the other wives, were merely there to amuse him. Her mind drifting about in thought, she soon stopped before the door etched in a rather evil design. The way the flames from the Master Emerald erupted over the wooden carving and consumed the frame, it almost felt wicked to her. The flame felt dominating to Zen-Ya (like the etched in chaos fire would actually reach out and consume her), and she always resisted getting too close to it as it made her stomach churn.

She was just about to tap upon the door with the back of her hand until she heard that familiar crying again. Pulling her hand back to her side, Zen-Ya looked behind her at Locke's door to hear Lara-Le's muffled sobs. Deciding that Sabre would probably be easier to talk to then Finitevus, Zen-Ya removed herself from where she stood and made it over to the one with Locke and Lara-Le's nameplate to the right of the handle. She wasn't at all hesitant this time. While Spectre had asked her not to do so, Zen-Ya was curious as to what was going on. Her knuckles rapping upon the wooden entryway, the crying seemed to come to a quick halt. The silence was disrupted by a pair of footsteps heading in her direction from the opposite side. Zen-Ya figured it had to be Sabre.

"Brother Sabre?" She called when the floorboards went quiet. "Are you there?"

The old door moaned on its hinges as Sabre soon looked beyond the small crack he made to peek outside. "Can I help you, Lady Zen-Ya?" He asked, sounding a bit confused as to why she was there. Zen-Ya couldn't help but notice a bit of a protective stance as well, and it made her feel a bit small in stature.

"I was wondering how Sister Lara-Le was doing," she said, moving her messy hair a bit out of her way. She forgot she hadn't bothered to really brush it or anything along those lines. "I heard…I heard about Brother Locke…"

Sabre looked down at the floor with a sorrowful look as that was his son she was talking about. "She's, uh…she's holding up," answered the guardian rather vaguely. He looked over his shoulder back into the room before his blue eyes caught Zen-Ya's softer blue. When silence overran the conversation, Sabre shifted the weight from one leg to the other to express he was uncomfortable in regards to where the discussion was going. "I appreciate you coming to check on Lady Lara-Le, my dear, and I am sure she appreciates it too. However, I think it best you let her grieve…"

Before the door could be shut, Zen-Ya was quick to grab it. "Brother Sabre—_please_," she begged between them. Looking down the hallway, Zen-Ya made sure that the corridor was clear before leaning in a bit further to whisper to him: "I know Lara was there that night, and I have a feeling you were as well. I need to speak with her." Out of all the guardians in the Brotherhood, she felt Sabre was one to be honest with her. It was a bit painful to inwardly admit that when comparing him to her own lover.

Sabre shook his head with an anxious inhale of breath. "Lady Zen-Ya, you know I would do anything to help you, but—but, I think it wise you leave what happened last night alone!" Without another word on the subject, the guardian was quick to shut the door and take care in locking it behind him too.

With the door shut and locked, Zen-Ya heard him wander back across the room and the sobbing started up once more. Expelling a nasally sigh, she removed herself quietly from the bedroom door belonging to Locke and wandered back down the hall. She knew retreating back to her own bedroom with her tail between her legs at not getting the information she desired would merely make Spectre pry, so instead, Zen-Ya wandered the many connecting corridors to make it out to Angel Village.

Like every other day, the atmosphere was thick with fog and the clouds were a substantial gray. Ever since she could remember, it seemed the village was like this in the morning. Not once had Zen-Ya ever seen the sun. Leaning against one of the pillars, which supported the overhang of the front porch of Haven, she began to wonder who else might have been there that night. Obviously, Finitevus was and so were a majority of the guardians. However, the guardians weren't speaking to her, and Dr. Finitevus was the last echidna she wanted to go to for such a request. _I am sure he'll merely laugh at me_, she thought with a disheartened frown. If anything, she was amazed Spectre was the one who got the brunt of Finitevus' wrath last night and not herself.

Moving away from Haven's main entrance, Zen-Ya carefully ventured down the dirt road stretched before her to make it to the small market place they had stationed there. Angel Village wasn't really much to look at. Ever since The Reaping, their numbers were cut and their former city built on the foundation of technology was reduced to nearly nothing. Dr. Finitevus appeared to be the one echidna that was desperate to lead them back to the 'golden age', and he seemed to be at this plan for many, many years with the grandmasters heatedly helping him while the guardians merely did as asked, it seemed.

Zen-Ya saw a bit of the villagers out and about that morning, as she boldly ventured to the town alone. She had decided years back she wouldn't wander about it without Spectre there beside her. The last few times she did after accepting the guardian's partnership offer, the other echidnas would look at her as though they were too frightened to get near her. Apparently, that day would be no different.

Once again, the villagers would stop and stare at her. Some looks appeared downright nasty and disapproving this time while the others were quick and the citizens would pretend they never saw her to begin with. With all the gasping and whispers hissing about like a wild rattlesnake about to bite her ankle, Zen-Ya found it all to be too much. Reminding herself that she hadn't even bothered to bathe yet, she took a quick detour through the back of the town and made it cautiously through the nearby woodlands to a small lake she knew wasn't too far from behind the EST's quarters, which was stationed in town.

Her sandaled feet almost dragging upon the earth, Zen-Ya removed her light-blue short sleeve top to place it and her black with white trim dress upon a nearby rock formation. With her sandals soon removed, Zen-Ya made her way slowly into the water while her fingers graced over the iron shackle that was still there on her wrist. The young female was hoping that more memories would jog, but sadly, all she got was the same vision she saw earlier. Twisting her mouth to the side with a low grumble, Zen-Ya decided to try and forget about it for a moment.

Closing her eyes, she slowly sunk under the water's surface to submerge herself completely and attempt to relax. In her eager attempts to do so, the voices of that night just started to slowly hiss back and forth before getting louder and louder and then there came a horrific screaming and yelling match. Furrowing her brow, she remained underwater, trying to fixate on the voices.

"_**Get out of here…NOW!"**_ Yelled that same warped voice.

Zen-Ya saw herself fleeing from the Chaos Chamber in a panic before stumbling out into the village to be grabbed by Spectre…or so she thought. The figure holding her was there for a moment, but vanished. Her body nearly fell forwards, but she caught herself as she looked about frantically. He was _there_, or he was supposed to be.

"_**Zen-Ya!"**_ Came another familiar voice about the village's darkness. _**"Zen-Ya, this way!"**_ Her eyes looking to the right of the decaying fountain piece in the center of the market square, she saw someone there in the shadows. Whoever it was, she could tell they were male, but it was far too dark to make out their features, and her memory was incredibly hazy.

Whoever it was, she felt protected by his presence and Zen-Ya didn't question it as she hurried over towards the faceless figure. Holding onto the male tightly, her body appeared to be quivering in uncontrollable fear. _**"Where are the others!"**_ The voice exclaimed in worry, pushing her back to try and look her in the eyes. _**"Where are they!"**_

Opening her eyes quickly, Zen-Ya saw a rippled reflection there about the watery surface. Feeling a bit of panic that someone was nearby watching her, she quickly swam upwards and threw her head back with a loud inhale of breath, not realizing how long she had been underwater. Ridding her eyes of the dampness, she did her best to wipe her face clean before her eyes ventured up at the towering figure. "Oh—by the god!" Zen-Ya exclaimed, placing her hand upon her chest and sinking further under so only her head could be seen. She narrowed her eyes at the constable in an irritable fashion. "What on Mobius are you doing here, Remington!" She exclaimed with a low growl.

Remington's smile appeared more relieved than offended or startled by her greeting. "Forgive me, Lady Zen-Ya. I had seen you in the village earlier, and I had meant to ask how you were doing, but you took a quick turn in the opposite direction," he commented, squatting down near the edge of the lake.

Zen-Ya continued to glare at him a bit playfully at first but then she realized that he was probably trailing behind her when she had undressed. The playfulness in her look faded, and a low growl tickled her throat once more. "Since when did you fashion yourself to become a huge pervert!" She exclaimed, splashing the water at the constable to make him look away from her.

Bringing his hand up just in time to prevent the water from marking his face, he laughed softly at her comment. "I looked away," he responded, knowing what she was talking about. "I was about to say something, but you looked like you were in dire need of a breather."

"Such a gentleman," Zen-Ya commented rather sarcastically. She had known the constable for many years, so being rather straight with him and vise versa wasn't something that was foreign to the two. The sarcastic relationship seemed to work just fine between them.

Remington dismissed her comment with a playful smirk before showing her a towel he had with him. "I managed to grab one quick enough when I saw you heading in this direction. I told Thadden I'd pay him back later for making off with his merchandise in a hurry."

Zen-Ya eyed the off-white towel before shifting her gaze curiously up at the brown furred echidna. "Look away…" She insisted, knowing she would have to let him hold it while she surfaced completely to accept it. When she saw him about to open his mouth to retaliate with past knowledge, she barked: "Look away!"

Sighing, the constable closed his eyes and turned his head in the opposite direction as she had demanded of him. He heard the water splash about as Zen-Ya removed herself from the lake to accept the towel to wrap about her wet figure. Releasing his hold on it when he felt Zen-Ya tug at it, Remington pocketed his hands with his eyes still closed. "Is it safe now?" He asked, knowing she wouldn't be too afraid to slap him if he accidentally did see her without her clothes on.

"Let me get clothed," Zen-Ya insisted, as she had managed to quickly dry off before hurrying over to where she had left her attire. Upon dressing herself, she realized that Remington seemed a bit more relieved out of anything regarding her being there in the lake. "Why the pleased look today? You act like you were worried I was horribly injured." Zen-Ya didn't want to believe word traveled that fast regarding her sudden run from the village, so she refrained from saying anything of the sort just yet while straightening her shirt.

Staring at his feet, Remington was glad he could hide his worried frown as his back was facing her at that moment. "I heard about last night." He heard Zen-Ya stop in her actions, making him close his eyes once more with a shrug. "While I would have wanted something better for you, the woods about the village are dangerous for you to go alone."

"You can look," Zen-Ya finally said, not sure what else to say regarding the incident last night. She seemed to be the only one that couldn't remember a thing.

Turning on his heels, the constable crossed his arms behind his back. "When I saw your limp body being held by Guardian Spectre, I was worried that—."

Zen-Ya's eyes flew open at that moment hearing something different for a change. "Whoa—stop—Spectre was the one that had me?" She saw the confused look in Remington's eyes, making her pry a bit further. "I thought…I thought Brother Sabre and Sojourner were the ones that went to get me. That was what Spectre said."

Remington looked off to the side before shaking his head. "No, Guardian Sabre was back here at the village. It was Guardian Spectre and Sojourner that—." He paused, scratching the back of his head with a wild blinking of his eyes to express slight nervousness. "—I mean, I don't remember. It could have been Guardian Sabre. It was darker than usual that night." As he eyed Zen-Ya to make sure for himself that she was indeed alright, it was then he saw it—the iron shackle on her wrist. "What in the god's name…" He muttered, reaching for the broken chain that dangled from item. "Who did this to you?"

Moving her damp hair out of her line of sight, Zen-Ya looked at the manacle like it was nothing special. "I don't…remember," she admitted, sighing with a shake of her head. "Ever since that night, I've encountered a case of mild amnesia or something."

"I would say more than 'mild', my dear," came Dr. Finitevus' condescending voice from behind her. When her eyes fell on him, a wicked smirk hooked onto his muzzle before he continued: "Especially, if you're going around with a partially destroyed iron bonding on your wrist."


	3. Chapter 3

Seeing Finitevus there, Remington seemed to look away as if irritated by his presence. However, the constable did find it within himself to at least remove his wide brimmed hat in order to bow in a sort of forced respect. If anything, he was glad that his angry frown could be hidden when he did so. He was worried if he opened his mouth to address the doctor, a few other choice words may slip out, so Remington bit his tongue for the time being.

Zen-Ya, however, had to live under the same roof, so she emitted more fear than disdain for Finitevus. "Doctor," she whispered for a greeting before bowing her head to him. She was hoping that her shaking wasn't really that obvious.

Finitevus' yellow eyes seemed to look at the constable with an unimpressed frown of sorts. It was as if Remington had already rubbed his fur the wrong way, and while not being verbal about it, he continued to shoot the echidna a disapproving glare. Moving his gaze over to Zen-Ya, Finitevus relaxed his expression into a sort of smirk to the wife of Spectre. "Already out and about, I see."

Zen-Ya felt her stomach tighten. He still had that same condescending tone, though really she expected nothing less even if she apparently went through quite the ordeal, and all Finitevus could think to do was yell at Spectre about her nearly escaping the village. "I managed to find my feet," Zen-Ya said simply, feeling it would be unwise to really elaborate on the topic.

"Indeed," Finitevus said to himself before turning on his heels to appear as though he were heading back to the village. "Zen-Ya, my dear, if you would meet me back at Haven, I would be appreciative." The doctor struggled to speak the words he wished to spare to her without expressing them through his clenched teeth. He was doing his best to control his temper, it seemed. His ripped cape flaring out behind him, Finitevus headed back from whence he had come.

Allowing him to get a bit of a head start, Zen-Ya turned to look back at the constable who she could hear growling to himself when Finitevus was out of earshot and well on his way back to the Angel Village by then. His index finger tapping against the hat he held, his blue eyes eventually caught Zen-Ya. Remington's face remained contorted in an irritable manner as he placed the tan hat back upon his head. "I know you feel the same as I," Remington said quietly between them. Walking closer to her, he grabbed her bound wrist to gently pull Zen-Ya closer to himself. "I am sorry, but I trust him about as far as a boulder can jump."

Zen-Ya expelled a small nasally sigh before taking back her shackled wrist from the worried constable. "He ranks above me," she reminded Remington. "If I go against even a small request, I will get in trouble for it, and if not me, Spectre will pay for it." Zen-Ya could still feel Remington's eyes staring her down when she pulled her icy-blue eyes from him. "I am sorry," she whispered in apology, finally finding the courage to look back at him. "I cannot let Spectre take the brunt of my mistakes again."

Remington knew he would be wasting his breath trying to talk Zen-Ya into not going back to Haven for the day, so he refrained. "Fine," said the constable, as he made his way back towards the village with her. "However, I want you to promise me that if anything else crazy happens, you'll come to _**me**_."

She found his demanding tone a bit odd. "Since when did you become this overprotective?" Zen-Ya couldn't help but try and brush it off with a small chuckle.

When they made it to the village finally, the constable shrugged his brow with a serious frown and answered: "Since last night." Seeing the curiosity rise in her expression, Remington sighed and thumbed behind himself back towards the EST station. "I better get back to work."

Zen-Ya wanted to stop him and ask what he meant, but it seemed everyone was pretty content to give her as little information as they possibly could—either because of fear or something else. Embracing herself, she turned and looked back towards the trees, which parted further to the south to lead to the path that headed back to Haven. Finding the courage to finally wander back to 'home', Zen-Ya did so while dragging her feet against the ground as though she had done something wrong.

She was in little desire to get there in a hurry. Zen-Ya figured Finitevus would be waiting within the building when she arrived, but instead, she saw his impatient form standing just outside the front door. Seeing him there with his arms crossed over his chest, she could tell he was heavily displeased with her. "You wanted to speak with me?" Zen-Ya asked, trying not to sound as frightened as she felt being so close to him.

"Walk with me," Finitevus said simply, his yellow eyes staring her down hard as he pushed his way past her to head to the garden that was about the outside of Haven.

Zen-Ya kept her hands folded in front of her black with white trimmed dress, which slightly parted about her knees. She figured whatever it was Finitevus had to say must have been something he wished to only say between them to actually desire to walk about the nearby garden. Zen-Ya and the other wives knew he hated it, but it gave the women something to work on when not much else was available to them. The silence seemed to linger on forever as the two walked together. She wanted to say or do something to end it, but Zen-Ya already knew she was in enough trouble as it was.

"I am to assume you don't remember a thing after last night," Finitevus finally pointed out as he ventured about the garden, which had been started many centuries ago, it seemed. He couldn't help but turn his nose up at the different flowers and plants that the wives had taken their time in nurturing.

"It's as if…I hit my head on something and forgot everything," Zen-Ya commented, avoiding the thought of telling him she remembered bits and pieces of last night. Running her fingers over her forehead, she twisted her mouth to the side in hopes something would pop up.

"Or maybe someone wanted you to forget it for their own selfish reasons," Finitevus said to her, wandering over to one of the rose bushes to pluck one of the roses harshly from where it was growing. Looking at the beautiful flower in his palm, he narrowed his eyes at it. "Disgusting things," he muttered mostly to himself.

"What do you mean someone is trying to make me forget last night?" Zen-Ya asked, trying to peer within his line of sight, as his back was facing her.

Finitevus could feel her eager gaze upon him, making that same twisted smirk hook his muzzle. "I can see it easily in your eyes," said the scientist, as he turned around to look at her with a relaxed expression for once. His bandaged fingers began to press against the flower he held, as he continued to talk to Zen-Ya. "You remember _**some**_ things from last night, don't you?" When he witnessed Zen-Ya look away for a moment, he frowned disapprovingly. "Answer me honestly," he demanded in a low tone.

"Some of it, yes," Zen-Ya admitted with a soft huff at his prying. "All of it's just a big jumbled mess if anything." Waving her hands slightly to dismiss the conversation before asking the doctor again, "What did you mean when you said someone was desperate to keep me from the truth?"

"I would say ask that husband of yours," Finitevus answered with a toothy grin. "He might have some answers for you."

Zen-Ya wondered why Finitevus seemed so intent to get her to ask Spectre about the events that occurred last night. It felt as though he had a hidden reasoning for this, but she knew it was unwise to ask the doctor directly. _Why would Spectre be lying to me to begin with?_ She wondered, twisting her mouth to the side in thought.

"You can leave," Finitevus replied unenthusiastically with a dismissive wave of his hand. His eyes watched Zen-Ya closely as she turned to do so. "Oh, and Zen-Ya," he called to retrieve her attention once more. "If you attempt to leave here again no matter what the reason—." The doctor paused and used his dark chaos power to burn the rose he held into nothing but cinders. "—I will make sure the next time you get dragged back here, you won't be getting up again."

All she could think to do was nod with a nervous bow before hurrying back towards her room she shared with Spectre. Zen-Ya quickly shuffled down the halls as she was desperate to escape from Finitevus and be within the comfort of her own bedroom. As she was making her way through the maze like building, Zen-Ya caught an all too familiar figure out of the corner of her eye when she was about to make it to the bedroom corridor.

Lara-Le was casually passing down one of the connecting hallways with her hands folded in front of her dress with her head lowered. She appeared to still be mourning over the disappearance of Locke (not that Zen-Ya could blame her). "S-Sister Lara-Le…!" Zen-Ya expressed, hurrying after her.

Hearing her name called, Lara looked up at Zen-Ya with a bit of a startled look. With her approaching, Lara-Le backed up as if she were in trouble. Her hands raised in attempt to stop the advancing woman, Lara-Le soon found her back against the nearby wall. Slowing her pace, Zen-Ya tilted her head to the side in confusion, as she had never seen Lara-Le so frightened to just see _**her**_ before. "What…what's the matter?" Zen-Ya asked.

Lara-Le didn't even respond. Quickly, she removed herself from where she was cornered and pushed her way past Zen-Ya to disappear within the halls of Haven.

"That was…that was odd…" Zen-Ya whispered to herself, placing her hand upon her chest in a bit of confusion. Never had she seen the wife of Locke so terrified before. Deciding to dismiss it for now, she wandered through the halls to make it back to her bedroom where she was hoping to find Spectre.

Opening the door, she looked inside to find the room was empty. Zen-Ya found that unusual as he usually stayed within the room unless ordered out onto patrol. "Spectre?" She called, just in case he was lurking in the storage room or in the washroom. When no movement occurred, Zen-Ya sighed to herself and shut the door behind her to merely relax there in the comfort of her own room for a bit.

Making it over towards the bed, she was about to sit down but stopped midway when she noticed a piece of paper there on the covers. "A note from Spectre?" She muttered, as she saw it was his handwriting.

_I should be back before dinner._

_ ~Spectre_

Looking on the back of the piece of paper to see if he wrote anything else, Zen-Ya sighed at the lack of information he had given her. "That's it? Even his writing is antisocial," she lightly joked to rid herself of the frustration she felt.

Shifting her icy-blue eyes up at the clock, Zen-Ya did take note that it was inching closer to dinner. With a shrug of her shoulders, she ventured over towards the storage room to think about food for herself and for Spectre once he arrived. Removing herself from the bedroom, Zen-Ya would have chosen fish to eat, but that would have required her to build a fire just outside to actually bother with heating it up. When it got closer to nightfall, the wives were almost forbidden from venturing outside of Haven unless instructed otherwise.

"Too late for that," she mumbled to herself before looking to see what else could be done. As she continued to shift through the food, Zen-Ya's eyes narrowed in thought, as the conversation with Finitevus continued to run about in her head once more. A part of her didn't want to believe that Spectre, of all echidnas, would lie to her. He seemed far from the type in her eyes. "He wouldn't…" Zen-Ya muttered, biting her thumb gently with a low hum. "Besides, why would the doctor even care to implicate him in such a way?"

All of it made little sense to her, but she did her best to try and push it aside for the time being, as she was able to finally find the lettuce she had been hunting for in the barrels lined with ice. Using what small strength she had to move the loaded barrels about, it was then she heard the door not far from her open. Pausing in what she was doing, Zen-Ya shot her nervous sight over at the door to see Spectre standing there. Seeing the awkward look he gave her, she expelled a relieved sigh. "Oh…it's just you."

"You were expecting someone else?" Spectre asked in that same unenthused tone. His red eyes drifted over to what she was doing, causing him to shake his head and venture over to help her. "Let me do this," he insisted, as he didn't need her harming herself further.

"I can handle it," Zen-Ya retorted a bit defensively, but it mattered little anyways, as the guardian gently pushed her aside.

"Maybe, but I don't have back problems unlike yourself," the elder commented, knowing she couldn't do a lot of heavy lifting. Spectre was aware that she had back issues when she was a teenager, and did a lot of work about her parent's farm in the village. Zen-Ya had taken on more than she could handle at one point, and her back began to cause her problems later on in her twenties. "What were you looking for?" He asked, as he moved the barrel she had a handle on earlier closer into his view.

"I was just going to make a salad or something," Zen-Ya answered, running her fingers through her hair. "And to answer your first question, no, I wasn't expecting anybody else." Biting her lower lip, the nervous woman began to wonder if asking Spectre about that night was a good idea. He seemed pretty intent to be as vague as everyone else was. "Can I ask you something, and will you promise not to get mad?"

"Depends on the question," Spectre responded honestly, as he finally found the carrots he was hunting for as well as the cheese he knew he had bought as well.

Zen-Ya hesitated. Spectre was pretty intent to make sure that she didn't continue to dwell on last night's events, but the memories were there begging to be uncovered further. "Dr. Finitevus asked to speak to me, and he told me that you were hiding something from me regarding last night."

Spectre froze in what he was doing. The smoke, which lingered about his feet was the only thing that seemed to move in the dimly lit room for awhile until he finally turned to look at her with an almost irritated expression. "I thought I told you why I said very little in the beginning." There was almost a growl lingering upon his words as he spoke, making Zen-Ya mess with her nearest, orange dreadlock. "I also thought I insisted you get over what happened last night."

"Spectre, you know I won't be mad regardless of what it is, but I am sorry!" Zen-Ya came right out to apologize with a slight huff. "I just want to know what it is that happened, and why I was forced to forget it!"

Getting to his hidden feet, the guardian grabbed her shoulders and made her try to look at him. "I told you why I spared you little knowledge, and that in itself should be enough for you. I am your _husband_, and you should know I would never intentionally lie to you…!" His voice drifted off for a moment, as he took in a deep breath to control himself. "The only reason I would do so, is to prevent you from meeting a fate worse than death!"

"You keep saying that," Zen-Ya said with an exasperated sigh and a slight shake of her head. "I just wish you'd tell me who it is that is out to murder me should I uncover…whatever it is I am aiming to uncover!"

"Zen-Ya, I am begging you," said the guardian rather quickly, his grip upon her tightening a bit. "I want you to drop this, alright? Drop it!"

Never had she been able to see Spectre as concerned as he was that day. It was as though he were intent to keep a tight hold on her and never let her go in fear she would actually slip through his fingers. "Very rarely do I see pain in your eyes or hear concern in your voice," Zen-Ya whispered between them, as she moved her hand to caress his cheek. "It seems lately I have seen many more emotions out of you than I am used to in the many years we've been together." A small smile crept upon her face because of it, but it was quick to sink back into a worried frown shortly after. "Should I be relieved or concerned?"

Spectre appeared unsure how to answer that. He was worried upon doing so, he was merely opening the gates all the more for her to continue prying about what happened before her sudden amnesia. Still lacking the right words, the guardian grabbed onto her hand to pull it gently from his face. "The fact you can even hear or see it in me when I am so is a relief in itself, I suppose."

When his gloved hand moved from her own fingers, she brought her shackled hand back to her chest to watch as he was intent to continue with making the salad she had in mind to make. "I could easily do that as you'll be out on patrol soon." She witnessed as Spectre waved his hand dismissively at the thought, leaving her to gaze back at the clock to take note of the hour. "What were you doing anyways? I know you never really leave Haven unless something urgent has come up."

"I was helping Thunderhawk and Sojourner with something," Spectre answered simply, as he tore away at the lettuce to divide it within the bowls he had soon in front of himself.

"With what?" Zen-Ya pried, as she ventured over towards the guardian. She was mindful of giving him his space for the time being, knowing he was struggling with keeping his emotions under wraps.

"Do not concern yourself with it," Spectre responded, as he expelled a nasally sigh. "I figured I could help them before I myself took over their spot a bit later on in the day." After finally finishing with the salad, the elder took the bowl in front of him and passed it over to Zen-Ya. "Here."

Accepting the salad with a 'thanks', she began to pick at it while walking over towards the table to sit down. Remembering the encounter with Lara-Le that day, Zen-Ya found herself having a hard time trying to shake the memory from her mind. "I saw Lara-Le today when I was heading back to the room."

Spectre gazed over his shoulder briefly at hearing his wife mention Lara-Le. "You didn't interrogate her, did you?" Upon finishing with his own salad shortly after, he grabbed the wooden bowel and headed over to join her there at the dining table.

Zen-Ya shook her head, moving the candle, which was near the middle of the table a bit further towards the center. "No…if anything, she looked terrified of just seeing…me."

"The woman lost her husband," Spectre said in Lara-Le's defense. "I am sure she just wants to be left alone for awhile." He was quiet as he worked on his meal. "People grieve in different ways."

Looking from her salad to her husband in the candlelit room, Zen-Ya couldn't help but be curious about his previous wife he lost. "What about you?" When she heard him hum, she continued. "I know your former wife died several years ago. I remember her name—Kali-Ka, wasn't it?"

"What about her?" Spectre asked, as he soon stopped eating to look at Zen-Ya from where he sat across the table. Even then his voice sounded hard and emotionless. It was as if he was using it as a means to prevent himself from being expressive regardless of the topic.

"All the other guardians found someone a lot faster than yourself…even when you all lost your wives at the same time," she boldly stated, remembering seeing Spectre mostly venture about the village without someone. "Hell, I was even just in my early teens, and you never really seemed to be looking. You appeared to be far more into protecting the village than anything else."

Spectre shrugged his brow with a small growl, as he went back to his food. "I had little desire to feel loss again. Being able to outlive your spouse is more a curse than anything."

"What made you change your mind with me then?" Zen-Ya could hardly qualify herself as being special, though she felt a special connection with the guardian when she watched him from afar.

He didn't look up from his meal at that moment. Maybe because it was embarrassing for someone like him or maybe it was shameful to admit aloud, but he answered her all the same. "Because I was tired of dwelling on the past and mourning over someone I wouldn't be able to see again." His tone was the same as he confessed his feelings. "I guess I just needed someone to be there for me again."

It brought some comfort to Zen-Ya to have him say that aloud to her. Reaching over across the table, she touched his gloved hand with her fingertips to feel him recoil his fingers in response. "And yet you still stray away from me. It feels like you've been becoming a lot more distant than usual." She witnessed as the candlelight illuminated a bit of shameful disappointment upon his face. "Even if you're worried of losing something, it is best you enjoy it while it is there. I imagine that is what you did with your last wife and the one before her, if there was one."

Spectre didn't say anything at first, as he took her words into consideration. Reaching over to her nearby hand, he held it tenderly with his thumb massaging the back of it. Before he could spare any words on the matter, he heard the clock lightly chime the seventh hour. Shifting his red eyes up to the nearby timepiece, he seemed to groan a bit upon removing himself from the table. "I better get out there to relieve Thunderhawk."

Zen-Ya noticed that he hadn't finished his salad, making her a bit concerned since he appeared to be eating less and less. "Did you want me to put your salad away for you to eat again later when you come back at seven in the morning?"

Rolling his shoulders, he fixed his attire a bit in the dim lighting of the room. "You can put it away and save it for yourself, if you want. Right now, I better get out there before Finitevus relieves Sojourner, or I'll have to listen to that doctor prattle on about being late."

Removing herself from the dining room table as well, Zen-Ya followed him to the back door with a somber sigh to herself, as she watched the elder head out through the torch lit village in the distance. Resting against the doorway, she waited until Spectre disappeared from the encroaching darkness before whispering to herself, "I love you too."

Narrowing her eyes a bit, Zen-Ya's eyes became fixated on the dirt path that led from Haven into the wooded area and then into the village. Fixated on the fire dancing in the moonlight, an image slipped back into her mind of herself standing just in front of Haven with her head lowered and her wrists and ankles bound together. She could just see Lara-Le in front of her as well as another of the wives—the one belonging to Thunderhawk—behind her.

The hooded guardians were standing beside the wives. The voices distorted, all she could make out was the fact that someone asked if they were all ready. In that brief vision, she could tell that the fear was so overwhelming for her that Zen-Ya could see herself crying until someone grabbed her hand in a reassuring fashion.

Her head hurting too much to focus on the vision further, Zen-Ya rubbed her forehead before closing the door behind her. A part of her wanted to try and get Sojourner by himself and see if he would be able to speak with her, but if she couldn't even get Thunderhawk or Sabre to talk to her, she was beginning to believe it would be a waste of time at this point to bother Sojourner. Her mind drifting back upon Lara-Le and the sudden disappearance of Locke, Zen-Ya was quick to venture back out into the hallway to see if she couldn't find the fellow wife by herself yet again.

Knowing the room was her best bet, Zen-Ya tiptoed up the hall to the door on the right. Though it was an invasion of privacy, she was tired of being polite at this point and was a bit eager for an answer of some kind. Checking to see if the door was unlocked, Zen-Ya expelled a sigh of relief to find it was, as she allowed herself into the room. "Hello?" She called, wondering if Lara-Le was within her chambers. "Sister Lara…are you here?"

The room was empty, and there was no trace of Lara-Le or even Sabre, who appeared to be watching over her for the moment. The space was about the same as her and Spectre's room. The only difference was there was a much larger bed to the back of the room while the kitchen and dining area were side to side as soon as you entered. The living space appeared normal in appearance. There was nothing that really stood out for Zen-Ya to take notice of right away.

As she continued her slow trek to the back of the room, she noticed something upon the bed finally. It was a very warn and slightly wrinkled photo of Lara-Le and Locke near the center of the covers. Tilting her head to the side, she ventured closer to the king sized bed to take the photo into her hand to look at the two enduring happier times together. Zen-Ya gazed over at the nightstand to see that it had been removed from the frame it was originally resting within. "Poor thing…this photo must be the only comfort that she has," she said softly to herself before placing it back on the unmade bed from where she found it.

Zen-Ya was about to turn back around and just leave the living quarters belonging to Lara-Le and Locke, but she found her blood running cold and her heart racing when the sound of the door began to creak open. If it were Sabre, she knew she would be in for an ear full. A wash of relief rushed over her when she saw it was merely the woman she had been hunting for. "Lara…!" She exclaimed in a high whisper.

Hearing her name, Lara-Le looked panicked once more at seeing Zen-Ya there in her room. She was almost too paralyzed to run, making it easier for Zen-Ya to hurry to her and grab her wrists gently.

"Sister," she began eagerly, "It's okay! It's merely me—Zen-Ya!"

That wasn't enough to settle the wife. She continued to look at Zen-Ya with her green eyes shaking with terror.

"I know you were there last night," Zen-Ya said, deciding to get right to the point. She witnessed as Lara-Le tried to avoid her persistent gaze, making Zen-Ya cup the fellow wife's cheeks in attempts to keep her focus. "You have to tell me…you have to tell me what it was that happened!"

Lara-Le shook her head violently at that point, grabbing onto Zen-Ya's wrists to try and pull herself free.

"What's the matter? Why won't you say something?" She asked before looking about the room to notice the notepad there on the dining room table with a pen nearby. "Would you write it down? Would you at least do that if you won't tell me?" Even if Lara-Le was still shaking her head feverishly, Zen-Ya figured it was worth a shot as she helped her over to the table to try and get her to do it. When Lara-Le still refused to do as she asked, Zen-Ya pleaded with her. "Please, sister! I am begging you!"

"Stop it!" demanded Sabre, who had entered into the room from the back door.

With Zen-Ya's concentration broken, Lara-Le found it a perfect time to run to the bedroom space and shut the door behind her. Her heart squeezing in her chest at the sight of Sabre there, she knew she was in trouble given her unwanted intrusion. Her hands folded in front of herself, Zen-Ya bowed her head respectfully. "Forgive me, but…what is wrong with Lara-Le?"

Sabre fixed his monocle upon his muzzle before looking at the door Lara-Le had shut behind her. Casting a disapproving look upon Spectre's wife, he frowned angrily at her. "Lady Lara-Le lost her voice the night my son went missing. If you are looking for answers, you won't find them from her." It was then he pointed to the front door from whence she had come. "Now, please leave."


	4. Chapter 4

The door moaned on its hinges as Zen-Ya shut it quietly behind her. Her fingertips rested there against the wooden surface, as she slowly inhaled a rather shaky breath. "Lost…her voice…?" She whispered to herself. Furrowing her brow in concern, she brought the curve of her index finger to her lip in fearful wonder. "What could have been so traumatic that Lara-Le saw dealing with her husband…to cause her to lose her voice…?"

She could hear Sabre's muffled tone behind the door. He was doing his best to coax Lara-Le out from the bedroom. A part of Zen-Ya was actually hoping Sabre was merely lying to her about the fact the fellow wife couldn't speak, but it seemed Lara lacked the desire to even yell for Zen-Ya to leave her alone. Of course, Lara-Le didn't have to yell it—Zen-Ya easily saw it in her green eyes.

Shaking her head, Zen-Ya removed herself from the door's surface and slowly wandered down the hallway. With the anxious wonder and a tingle of tear that had grabbed a hold of her form, she found the desire to sleep rather difficult to grasp. _The library, perhaps_, Zen-Ya finally thought to herself, as she turned down one of the many corridors to try and make her way there. _Maybe if I read a little bit, I will find myself able to wind down_.

Beyond the wooden walls of the handmade Haven, Zen-Ya could hear the faint sound of rain tapping upon the woodwork before it started to come closer together to indicate a downpour. Fondling her black and white beaded v-neck shirt collar a bit, she sighed with a bit of worry. "Spectre…he's going to get ill out there…"

"I wouldn't worry about him too much," came Thunderhawk's voice from behind the woman. Seeing Zen-Ya snap around in a bit of fright, he raised his hand at her in the candlelit hallway slightly with a whispered apology. "He's the oldest one of us, and I'd be surprised if a mere storm brought him even to a sniffle, really."

Zen-Ya wasn't sure what to say after their last exchange. She merely accepted his apology with a nod as well as his comforting words, watching as he wandered past her and headed down the same hallway she was within. "Where…are you going?" The young woman pried, as she noticed he was heading in the same direction as she was, it seemed.

"Same as you, no doubt," the guardian answered over his shoulder. Thunderhawk wrapped his hands behind his back, as he ventured towards the library with a slight raise of his bushy brow at the roll of thunder he could hear following the rain's hypnotic melody. "After I come off of patrol, I have to try and unwind depending on how the day went." Bringing his gloved hand to his forehead for a moment, he massaged his lilac fur with a grumble of having to recall earlier events about the village. "I find myself in need of relaxing for the time being."

Zen-Ya trailed behind the guardian, making it to the library door with him. The large double doors coming into view at the eastern wing of Haven, she watched as Thunderhawk pressed open the one on the right and motioned for her to go on ahead. "After you," he said quietly under the muffled, bellowing of the storm.

Embracing herself from the minor chill she could feel, Zen-Ya made her way into the large library room. It took up a majority of the eastern side of Haven, and thousands of titles lined the shelves—shelves that even went up to the next floor and had to be accessed by the staircase. A few old tables lined side by side in a perfect symmetrical fashion were on the lower floor while the smaller ones with old oil lamps were upstairs. At the very back of the library, a large window, which was adorned with flowing, black curtains, granted Zen-Ya the only view to the outside world from within Haven.

She watched as the black fabrics twisted about subtly, as if they were alive. Given the abrasive wind Zen-Ya could now hear howling outside, she had no doubt that the cracks that couldn't contain the wind were prompting the curtains to twist and turn ever so slightly to give her a bit of a view of the nearby woods. When the lightening forked across the night sky, the naked branches of the surrounding trees beyond the window cast their twisted design upon the wooden floor she currently stood upon.

"If there is one thing I remember clearly, it is how much I love it here," Zen-Ya said honestly, as she kept her eyes focused on the window still. She could hear Thunderhawk walking up behind her at that moment. Turning to look him in the eyes, she saw he was carrying a candle he took care in lighting while Zen-Ya was busy admiring the library. "I guess the reason is because that window is my only outside view when I am locked within Haven."

Thunderhawk cupped his hand about the flickering flame, knowing it could still easily be snuffed out by the small trails of biting wind. He looked over at the window she mentioned there at the back of the room before shifting his cobalt colored eyes back to her sky-blue. "I seem to remember the books hooking your interest as well," commented Thunderhawk, as he made his way over towards the history section, which started on the lower floor. "All Spectre had to do was show you this, and it seemed to pull you in."

Zen-Ya's eyes soaked in the sight of the library, which was lit best by the lightening that would occasional strike across the sky. "I guess when you feel contained within Angel Village as you do, you often wonder what the rest of the world is like." She followed behind Thunderhawk towards the history section, her fingers touching the dusty frames of the chairs along her way. "When I saw all the titles you guardians seemed to horde, I couldn't help but instantly fall in love with Haven…" Zen-Ya paused as her smile turned into a bit of a concerned frown. "…As well as be a bit intrigued by the secrets it holds…"

"Secrets?" Thunderhawk questioned after the next thunder roll. "What secrets are you talking about?" Bringing the candle upwards a bit, he hummed in thought as he was hunting for a particular title in the history section.

"I'm not as blind as everyone wants me to believe I am nor as stupid," Zen-Ya said boldly to her superior. Even if his back was turned to her at that moment, she could tell in his actions that her words were already creeping under his fur as he seemed to hesitantly look over his shoulder at her now and again. "I know something happened that night. Obviously it was something horrible as I can remember running from here, and now I find out that even sister Lara-Le has lost her voice…"

"Is there a point somewhere?" Thunderhawk asked in an irritable fashion, as his hand seemed to stop moving over the books to not find what he was looking for. "Someone took the damn thing," he muttered mostly to himself, but his words weren't lost to Zen-Ya.

She watched carefully as he moved a bit further down the history section, appearing to be hunting for something else now. "Why won't you talk to me, brother…?" Zen-Ya finally asked, placing her hands almost in a defeated fashion at her side. Thunderhawk seemed to stop in his actions then and there, looking to her completely. "All I want are some simple answers."

"What might seem 'simple' to you might be dangerous for others to utter," Thunderhawk said with a bit of fear wrapped upon his words.

"What is so dangerous about it!" Zen-Ya exclaimed between them, gesturing a bit madly.

"Be silent!" Thunderhawk growled in return, his voice echoing about the library walls.

And so Zen-Ya was. She had actually recoiled back a bit upon his demand, as it had been several years since she last heard the guardian lose his temper in such a way. The thunder roaring outside with the added, aggressive song of the tapping rain were the only things that either one of them could hear for the time being. It felt like an hour had passed when Thunderhawk finally moved again in the dim lighting of the room. His body relaxed, he expelled a nasally sigh.

"Do you recall 'The Reaping'?" The lilac furred guardian wondered, as he kept his unwavering sight upon Zen-Ya.

"I…well, yes, everybody knows about that," she responded, moving the bits of blond and brown hair that were moving into her line of sight.

The guardian crossed the one arm as the other still held the lit candle. "Tell me, what were you told?"

It had been awhile since Zen-Ya bothered to actually think about the legend. "It was a test, of sorts—a test we failed," she answered with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "The Goddess Aurora, seeing the selfish ways in which technology was used, told her people of its usefulness and warned them of the corruption that it also carried. She told them to not only resist becoming greedy by what it could do for them, but also be insightful of what it could do _**to**_ them. When the echidnas did not listen and began to go so far as enhancing themselves with technology, she unleashed her fury upon them and destroyed those that would disfigure their bodies from what she deemed to be perfection with the chaos powers she wielded from the Master Emerald. The village burned in a wicked green fire for days. Those that were actually able to survive at all struggled to carry on with their shops and homes now destroyed and some of their own kin lying dead on the roads." Zen-Ya paused with a shrug of her shoulders. "That day was dubbed The Reaping."

"Were you told what happened after The Reaping?" Thunderhawk pried further, as he turned from Zen-Ya to begin looking through the titles once more though squatting to look at the lower shelves this time.

"Not much," she answered, remaining not far from the guardian. "All I know is that the Master Emerald empowers the guardians, who vowed to protect those that remain alive and keep outsiders from venturing in. Also that some day of reckoning might come and we may all be guided into the golden era, but…I draw a blank at that part."

Finally finding what he was looking for, Thunderhawk pulled an old, leather bound book with gold trimmed pages from where it sat on the lower shelf. He couldn't help but laugh softly at her comment shortly after taking her words all in. Flipping through the book to make sure it was the one he wanted, he mused aloud: "Married into the guardian line, and you don't even know about The Day of Reckoning or even the summoning of _Him_."

When all fell silent once more, Zen-Ya looked at the elder with confusion. "What are you talking about?" She could just see him pointing towards the table nearby, so she wandered over to sit down as Thunderhawk sat across from her with the candle in between them.

Opening the old book up to the first few pages, Thunderhawk groped behind the fabric of his black, hooded robe for his reading glasses he usually kept in his blue, vest pocket. It was bad enough that the huge space was hardly lit, but having to try and read without his glasses would make it doubly hard. "First and foremost, what Aurora said in the beginning was far from the actual 'test', my dear. The test is going on right now," Thunderhawk clarified, as he shifted his attention up towards Zen-Ya. "She wants to see if her people are as strong as she has come to believe we are. Also, she blessed my family line with the ability to link up to the chaos emerald and retain a bit of immortality in hopes we would carry out her warning and keep our people strong, cared for, and protected from the evils of the outside world as well as those that still circle inside of it." Thunderhawk's mind drifted at that point. He couldn't help but think back on Finitevus especially as well as the other side of the family that had dubbed themselves 'Legionnaires'.

He waved away his thoughts, burying his anteater like snout back into the book in front of him. "Anyways," he began, "there is another chaos deity out there, who created a messenger to bring his word of salvation to the dying echidna race. Upon his arrival, he came to the current guardians at the time—my forefathers—and expressed his desire to bring us back from the poverty stricken village we now live within and guide us into the golden age once more. He told them he would do anything to aid the guardians in this conquest—that all we needed to do was help with the summoning of 'Him'." The thunder outside hissed a rather loud, cracking sound as he turned the book so Zen-Ya could view it better from where she sat on the opposite side of him. Pushing the illustration into the way of the candlelight, he allowed her to see a rather tall echidna adorned in golden and blue attire that appeared rather menacing there in the poor candlelight.

Zen-Ya flattened the pages to get a better look at it. She narrowed her eyes a bit and could just read in the darkened room what was underneath the caption: **ENERJAK**.

Seeing the confused and rather frightened look in Zen-Ya's eyes, Thunderhawk motioned for the book back. Taking it into his possession, he sighed a bit while reading over the literature contently. "My family went through with it…blindly…regardless of the sacrifices they were said to make. However, little did they know that the sacrifices would cost them dearly." Thunderhawk cupped his forehead in his hand, and he did his best to hide the inner pain he felt attempting to surface upon his face. "Their sins have become our sins, and now we must continue to create this road we walk upon with bloodstained hands."

"What…what are you talking about…Why can't you just tell me what is going on here…!" Zen-Ya exclaimed between them, reaching for Thunderhawk's hand only to stop halfway when the guardian looked up at her with a rather dark and furious frown. Seeing those features lit up in such a way almost made her heart stop dead in her chest. He didn't move. He merely stared at her long and hard before he slammed the book closed in an angry fashion.

"I've told you more than enough," muttered the guardian, as he steadily began to rise from where he sat. "That in itself should show I mean well, and that you should listen and obey your husband when he tells you not to dig into it _**ANYMORE!**_" His voice carried throughout the empty library once more, making his tone all the more intimidating. Seeing her shrink down from where she sat, Thunderhawk clenched his fists there before him in an attempt to regain himself. "You should be damn thankful you have the amnesia you do and that you still are able to wake up and see Spectre. I think everyone here would say that in itself is a blessing. Enjoy it while these times last."

Zen-Ya remained where she sat, watching in the darkened room as Thunderhawk disappeared into the shadows of the library and all she could hear was his footsteps leading out of the enormous space and back to his bedroom, probably. He had taken the book with him, but he left the candle for her to have, she assumed. Being alone there after previously having someone to speak with made the library feel that much more unappealing and empty. "He was hurting…I could hear it in his words," she whispered to herself, as she looked upwards at the dome like ceiling above her. _Be thankful…? _Zen-Ya thought, her icy-blue eyes darted about the room a bit in mounting fear. _Am I going to lose Spectre…?_

She was well aware that Spectre was by far the oldest alive guardian, but he didn't appear to be the several hundred years he had been alive for. It seemed as though Thunderhawk was predicting that the two wouldn't be together much longer, and it began to terrify Zen-Ya. It didn't take long for the fear to overwhelm her, causing Zen-Ya to flee from the library room and make her way out of Haven regardless of the rules that were supposed to keep her bound within the building until the next sunrise.

Her black boots hitting against the mudded earth soon enough, she could see her breath visible upon the air as Zen-Ya rushed to Angel Village in hopes of finding her husband. The cold, wet rain bit at her fur and muzzle, but she did her best to pay it little mind upon soon making it to the market square of the sleepy town. "Spectre?" She called in a bit of a whisper. She was hoping he'd hear it if he were nearby. "Spectre, where are you…!" Her words almost sounded tearful, but Zen-Ya did her best to keep her sorrow at bay though it was becoming a challenge.

Knowing that the storm was probably drowning out her words, Zen-Ya ran her fingers through her brown and blond hair as she felt her sadness finally hit her in the stomach. Crying there in the freezing rain, she felt the memories begin to pound into the back of her mind once more.

"_**Since Spectre is not to be in here**_," said Finitevus' voice in the back of Zen-Ya's mind, "_**I want you to deal with her!**_"

Zen-Ya could see herself kneeling there in the shackles that bound her in that wooden room. Looking up in that candlelit space, she saw a hooded figure standing in front of her. The guardian hesitantly knelt down in front of Zen-Ya to show it was Thunderhawk. "_**I'm sorry…**_," his voice echoed in the back of her mind, as he reached for her.

Pulling her hands from her head, Zen-Ya struggled to catch her breath. She could hear the somber sincerity in his voice when Thunderhawk whispered that between them. Why was Spectre banished from the room that night? If anything, he was the one who was quick to bring her back, or at least, that was what the constable was eager to tell her. "R-Remington…!" she struggled to say before hurrying to his house to the west of the village.

The constable had fallen asleep on the top of his covers no thanks to the sound of the storm raging outside and the mystery novel he had read probably a dozen times. His snoring coming to a halt when he heard the eager knock at his front door, the brown echidna jolted slightly in his sleep. "Mmm…?" He moaned, running his palm over his face to try and wake himself up. "I'm coming; I'm coming…" Remington yawned, half awake as he made his way through the archway of his bedroom and to his front door to see who was there.

Upon opening the door, his exhaustion was quickly overrun by shock at seeing Zen-Ya standing there soaking wet. "Lady Zen—I-what-what on Mobius—!" Remington stammered, as he grabbed her shoulder and guiding her inside of his house before shutting the door behind her. "What are you thinking!" He exclaimed, unaware she'd be so careless and so bold to run from Haven at that hour. Hurrying over to the blanket he usually kept draped over his reading chair in the living room, he pulled it off of the mahogany piece of furniture and wrapped it around Zen-Ya.

"I'm fine," Zen-Ya insisted through her chattering teeth. With her emotions running high at that moment, she hadn't bothered to think about the fact she was actually quite cold. "I came to talk to you about something," she said, as Remington helped her down to the old chair, which was in front of his fireplace. "I wanted to talk to you about the night I ran from here…"

Remington went quiet, as Zen-Ya expected he would. His eyes glanced over at the fire before shifting back onto the woman he considered a close friend. "I am forbidden from telling you anything about that night," he whispered honestly. "What I said at the lake I…I shouldn't have said that at all."

"Everybody is forbidden from telling me the truth!" Zen-Ya said tearfully. Her sadness could no longer be kept at bay much longer, and she could soon taste the salty tears upon the corner of her mouth when they made their journey down her muzzle. "Why? What is going on here that I am not allowed to know about! Can't you tell me something!" She was trying not to be too loud when she exclaimed her questions, knowing that Finitevus was on patrol with Spectre, and he could easily punish the woman for disobeying again.

Her sorrowful fear was understandable to the constable. To be attacked by random amnesia and only recall that you were trying to escape from where you stood wasn't something he could easily come to terms with either. "You shouldn't even be out of Haven right about now, Lady Zen-Ya," Remington reminded her. "Do you not realize how much trouble I'll get into for keeping you here? Do you not understand the trouble _**you'll**_ be into should that white rat find you here!"

"Who brought me back to the village?" Zen-Ya finally asked, her fear turning into anger as she worked on wiping her tears away. She wrapped the blanket tighter about her body as she shook her head at the constable, not wanting another vague comment. "I want to know the truth! Was it Spectre or was it someone else who brought me back?"

Remington expelled a sigh of defeat as he scratched an annoying itch in his black hair. "Guardian Spectre did," he said honestly. "He was forbidden from entering the Chaos Chamber that night because of something he did years ago." Seeing that irritable look in her eyes, he raised his brow and shrugged his shoulder. "That part I don't know the whole story behind, so don't ask!" Looking away from Zen-Ya, he thought back on that night with his arms crossed upon his chest. "Anyways…I spoke to him that night, and I could tell he was anxious. If it weren't so dark, I could have sworn he was on the verge of tears though he still sounded quite angry to me. Whatever was going on in that room had him in a state of pain, and it got me nervous, as I've never seen him in that sort of emotional rut."

The constable paused for a moment, rubbing his arms a bit as his fur was threatening to prickle a bit. "And the screaming…I could hear screaming going on inside of that room at one point," he admitted, his eyes fixated upon the flickering fire, which had yet to die down. "Guardian Spectre had gone to the chamber to retrieve you, but shortly afterwards you had stumbled out of the room and looked to be in a tearful panic. I couldn't get you to say anything coherently, so I merely demanded for you to run."

"Did you ever look inside the Chaos Chamber?" Zen-Ya asked as she could only wonder what could have caused the screaming that night.

Closing his eyes in a painful fashion, Remington shook his head slowly from side to side.

Seeing his actions, Zen-Ya narrowed her eyes at him. "You're lying."

"I can't tell you what I saw," Remington answered finally, as he struggled to catch his breath.

"Why not?"

"Because I am forbidden from doing so, and besides—." The constable paused as he shamefully turned away from Zen-Ya. "—it wouldn't change anything should I even tell you what was in that room." Feeling her gaze upon him, Remington shook his head slowly as if to rid himself of the memories best he could. "You better get dried off quickly. I can escort you back to Haven, if you like."

"No," Zen-Ya responded honestly, as she removed herself from the chair. "I need to find my husband." Seeing Remington cock his brow at her curiously, she explained her reasons. "I just need…I just need to talk to him, as something Thunderhawk said to me made me really upset and put me on edge."

While dimly lit, Remington's worrisome look was evident before he turned back to look out the window above his kitchen sink. "I wish you would reconsider that, as the doctor could easily catch you. However, the elder guardian has taken care of you and kept you out of trouble thus far, so I have no reason to question if he would slip up now."

Removing the blanket partially from her still slightly damp figure, Zen-Ya came up behind the constable to hug her close friend tightly. "Thank you," she whispered. "Out of everybody, you're the only one who has been honest with me regardless of what consequences may wait for either of us—even my own husband lacks the desire to be so."

Reaching over to place his hand upon her own, Remington did his best to smile though it was broken at best. "While I'm uneasy about you being his wife, you should know he's only lying to you to protect you and buy himself more time." Catching the hour, the constable nodded towards the door. "Normally around this time, Spectre is closest to the southern woods. If you wait about an hour or so, he'll probably head this way not too far from my house." Seeing Zen-Ya about to return his blanket to him, the constable refused it. "Keep it. You can use it as a means to keep the water from drenching you again."

Spectre didn't mind the constant downpour. If anything, it did little to bother him, even if his fur was much thinner compared to his younger years. Sensing something out of the corner of his eye as he ventured closer to the western section of the village, the guardian paused in his stride and looked out at the surrounding woods with a raise of his brow. Normally everyone was in bed and whoever would be crazy enough to actually be out and about in this storm had to be up to something. "Show yourself," Spectre demanded as his eyes began to actually glow a furious red to express his lack of amusement.

Removing herself from the tree she was trying to hide behind, Zen-Ya moved the blanket she had draped over her head slightly to get a better look at her husband. Seeing the crimson glow to his eyes die down, she was a bit relieved, but it was hard to judge his expression with the distance between them and his helmet hiding his mouth a bit. "I'm sorry," she whispered before hurrying over towards Spectre with her arms open to embrace him tightly. Zen-Ya felt him nearly stumble backwards from the impact, as he obviously was still a bit surprised to see her away from Haven at that moment. "I had to see you…"

Spectre could tell something was wrong in the way she spoke. The storm itself couldn't drown out her pain riddled words. "Zen-Ya…what are you doing out here?" The guardian asked, as he had yet to respond to the hug. He merely stood there with his arms slightly raised, still a bit confused.

Looking up from the embrace she had him in, she shook her head. "Just shut up and love me?" She boldly asked, hoping that wouldn't be too much to request. Seeing the guardian a bit caught off by that remark, she released an impatient grumble before grabbing gently onto his tattered attire and bringing his face a bit closer to her own just so she could kiss him.


	5. Chapter 5

**_Author's Notes_**: I promise I live-I live, but I keep drowning myself in sketches! Please, make it stop... XD; Anyways, sex scene was removed from this chapter-thus the odd time vortex further down that seems to suddenly leap forward. Ignore that, and enjoy.

* * *

With the water weighing down Spectre's attire so much, Zen-Ya couldn't help but furrow her brow in a bit of concern as she held onto his right arm. _Metal…?_ She thought, as she drifted her eyes upwards at the guardian's red to show her confusion.

It took Spectre only a second to realize why she was giving him that look, prompting him to quickly jerk his arm back and step away from her. "You need to head back to Haven," he insisted a bit more aggressively this time.

"S-Spectre…?" Zen-Ya stammered, reaching for her husband. With the elder turning from her, she couldn't help but feel her heart squeeze upon realizing he was hiding something such as that from her. "What…what is wrong with your arm?"

"That is not your concern," Spectre growled defensively, not wishing to talk about it.

Zen-Ya shook her head, with a low growl tickling her throat in hopes Spectre would see she was serious. "It is my concern if I am married to you!" If anything, it was making sense as to why he still, even after all these years, was very resistant to the thought of removing his tattered attire around her. While working closely with Finitevus and the Dark Legion—both of which were obsessed with enhancing themselves and others with technology—the guardians were very against the idea of having their forms tampered with in such a fashion. "What happened to your arm…!"

Closing his eyes tightly, Spectre recollected himself before turning to face Zen-Ya once more with a raise of his brow. "You shouldn't even be out of Haven, Zen-Ya!" He gestured back towards the direction of Haven with his teeth exposed in a furious manner. The guardian was doing whatever it took to keep her from prying further. "You need to head back there—_**now!**_"

Her arms slapping to her side in an almost defeated fashion, Zen-Ya sighed with a dumbfounded look at her husband. "I can't believe…" The words burned in her throat. Trying to even say them aloud was a troublesome and painful task for her. Bringing her hands close to her chest, she was glad that it was raining as hard as it was and that the night was as dark, so Spectre couldn't see her tears there in the dreary storm. Attempting to replace her sadness with anger, Zen-Ya shot a furious look at him. "Even the constable has been more forthcoming with information than you have, and I would have assumed you'd at least be more open with things considering the fact I am your _**wife**_." When Spectre didn't seem to respond or held little desire to do so, Zen-Ya turned her back to him. "I thought I meant something to you, but you keep proving me wrong as the days go by."

Spectre opened his mouth to say something when Zen-Ya started to walk away, but he found himself merely expelling a somber breath. He wanted to tell her the truth, but first and foremost, which truth was he to even start with? With her riddled with amnesia, it felt so much easier to just leave her in the dark. Upon looking back at the situation, Spectre couldn't help but feel he was being selfish in that regard as the one benefiting the most from Zen-Ya's amnesia was him.

* * *

The blanket was soaked through by the time Zen-Ya got back to Haven. Shaking her bi-colored hair to be rid of the water a bit, she removed the black with light-blue trim headband from her forehead as well. The other bands she had on her dreadlocks got removed one by one as Zen-Ya found them uncomfortable to wear with the water drenching them completely. As she worked on undressing herself, she stopped at the bandage Spectre had wrapped about her burnt arm. Her fingers were merely an inch from the fabric when memories snapped back from the dark part of her mind.

"_**If you won't help me with this, then you will act as a replacement!"**_ Finitevus growled furiously to a blurred figure in the room glowing in an emerald color.

Narrowing her eyes a bit, Zen-Ya knew the one person who could probably answer all of her questions was the one echidna she didn't wish to be in a one-on-one conversation with again. Trying to shake the idea from her mind, she removed her light blue top at least to toss in the basket of laundry to remind herself to wash later. Wrapped within her own thoughts, she hadn't heard the back door open. When the floorboards moaned, Zen-Ya was quick to look over to find Spectre standing there in the dimly lit room.

Shaking her head, she tried to go back to situating the wet clothes she had in the basket. "Your night shift isn't over yet. Why are you back so soon?" She hated shutting out Spectre as he had been doing to her lately. If anything, Zen-Ya was trying to be understanding when it came to why her husband did what he did, but lately, it was becoming harder to forgive secrets he had been so intent on hiding from day one.

"You have every right to be mad at me," Spectre said with a nasally sigh. "The reason I never told you about my robotics is because…I don't want to dwell on or be reminded of the past." He moved his robotic arm slightly, letting the gears grind together silently as he did so. "I've numbed myself to the thought of having them, and I had hoped you'd never find out."

Zen-Ya cocked her brow at her husband's wording. "What do you mean by 'them'? Do you have more than the one…?"

Spectre reached upwards to slowly remove his damp helmet. Upon doing so, the guardian let his short length and damaged dreadlocks free for a change. Zen-Ya couldn't help but react at the sight. Inhaling sharply, she brought her hands to her face to cover her surprise best she could to see that his left front dreadlock was completely robotic while his right front one was partially so. The ones that she couldn't see were either burned off and enhanced as well or just left alone.

"What…happened to you…!" Zen-Ya exclaimed breathlessly between them when she found herself able to speak again.

"I'm not done yet," Spectre said simply as he grabbed onto the black robes he constantly wore. Removing the soaked attire, the elder revealed that his legs were also robotic next to his arm. The robotics were a dark metal, and they curved in a V formation up to where his knees should be. His thighs were still organic from what Zen-Ya could see.

Zen-Ya wasn't sure what to say upon seeing the damage that had been done to his body. Venturing a bit closer, she watched as Spectre didn't shy away from her this time. Touching his right arm, she furrowed her brow in concern. "If anything…this does explain why you never allowed me to be nearby whenever you had to remove your helmet or clothing." Looking up at him with a painful, curious gaze, Zen-Ya asked: "But why? Why would you hide this from me? How…_long_ have you been hiding this from me?"

"I've been hiding it since we declared one another husband and wife. I've had them long before we were even joined," Spectre answered, lowering his head in attempt to hide his anger, which seemed to flare up at remembering what had caused them.

Zen-Ya saw him closing his eyes soon enough, as if struggling with himself. She hesitated to ask, but eventually did so in a cautious manner. "What…what caused this…? You look like you were burned to death…" Zen-Ya could still see the burn marks on some of his dreadlocks.

Opening his crimson red eyes, the guardian stared at her with that same neutral frown. "I _**was**_ burned to death," he responded, as if it were nothing. "The intention wasn't for me to die, but I took the brunt of it in my attempt to save another." He looked back down at his tattered robe he kept in his hands. "It was all for nothing." Turning on his heels, he somberly continued: "She died anyways."

"'She'?" Zen-Ya quoted nervously. A part of her had a feeling who he meant, but more than anything, she was hoping she wasn't right.

Spectre looked over his shoulder at the orange furred echidna with a raise of his brow. "You know who I mean," he said simply, as he managed to make it to the side of the bed. Even if his shift wasn't over, he wasn't in the mood to continue walking about in the rain until things with Zen-Ya cooled over.

"You…your last wife…?" She stammered, feeling her heart drop as she placed her hand upon her chest. "What burned her alive!" Zen-Ya exclaimed between them, unable to believe that Spectre was put through that sort of loss.

Struggling to find the right words to use, the guardian instead just shook his head to show he wasn't in the mood to continue with discussing his late wife further. "So I wouldn't die, Finitevus and the other legionnaires worked on covering me with implants. I hid my new look from the world after that moment," Spectre explained, as he looked over at his helmet he had put off to the side of the bed. "Also, I did my best to hide them from myself, so I wouldn't have to be constantly reminded of why I received them." His look wasn't pain riddled or even hinted any other emotion beyond a mellow anger. "I failed her, and these robotics are a constant reminder of that."

With Zen-Ya being so quiet, Spectre saw that she appeared uncertain of what to say. For him, it was hard to read her expression at that moment for once. Looking at the mass of clothing he had in his hands, he sighed while working on attempting to put it back on. "I'm sorry. I am sure this is not what you were expecting to see when you saw me like this."

Seeing him about to put his robe back on, Zen-Ya reached over and placed her hand upon his wrist to stop him from doing so. Joining him on the edge of the bed, she shook her head at his words. "Being taken by surprise isn't the same thing as being appalled," she quietly assured him. Running her fingers through his damaged dreadlocks, Zen-Ya tilted her head so it would be easier for her to kiss him.

While this kiss wasn't as unexpected as the last, Spectre seemed to merely just let her do so until finally relaxing into it. Lowering his head from the kiss, the old guardian rested his forehead against Zen-Ya's with a throaty hum. "I am sorry for keeping you in the dark for so long," he apologized sincerely.

Zen-Ya smiled briefly as she continued to get used to actually being able to touch him without his helmet or clothing hindering that. "I should be sorry for making you have to relive those memories. I just…I guess I just wanted you to be truthful for once." She continued to fondle with his dreadlocks, regardless of the shape they were in until Zen-Ya rested her cheek against the white, crescent mark upon his dark fur. Feeling him embrace her for once without asking made her smile as she closed her eyes to enjoy the moment. "Can we just be like this…forever?"

Spectre's chest rose and fell as he expelled a nasally sigh at her words. "If I could make time stand still, I would." He was quietly before adding, "Believe me, I would."

Hearing the slight pain in his words, Zen-Ya looked up at him in the candlelight, which illuminated his features. "Can you do me another favor?" Her icy-blue eyes stared up at him in a pleading fashion. Seeing the curious look, she asked, "Can you just love me?"

He could see it in her eyes and feel it in the way she touched him. Spectre didn't need clarification on what she meant by what she said. "Are you sure?" He asked as he moved his partially cybernetic legs as Zen-Ya was resting in between them. "Even when we decided to become mated we weren't exactly…" His words trailed off as he rolled his shoulders knowing his wife probably knew what he meant.

"But you had a reason," Zen-Ya explained in his defense. "I know that reason now, and I know my love hasn't shaken from where it continues to strongly stand." Leaning forwards, she kissed his guardian mark before trailing her hands behind his back to hold onto his form there.

* * *

The same images and voices she had recollected throughout the days and nights began to pound ruthlessly into Zen-Ya's mind yet again as she did her best to sleep peacefully. Seeing the bright, green light from the Master Emerald explode within her mind and taint her memories in a blur of crimson and green, Zen-Ya saw the robed figure grab her again and yell for her to leave before she finally was able to wake herself from her nightmarish memories.

Inhaling sharply upon coming back to herself, Zen-Ya shook her head to try and rid herself of the throbbing pain she could soon feel. Her fingertips gracing her forehead, she moaned softly from displeasure before moving upon the bed to feel it as empty as it usually was. "Spectre…?" She called quietly, realizing that he wasn't in the bed with her anymore. "Spectre?" Zen-Ya called again, sitting upright though flinched from a bit of pain that shot through her legs.

Realizing that Spectre wasn't within the room at all, Zen-Ya reached for the dark violet bedcovers to wrap herself within them since she wasn't sure if her clothes were even dry yet as she hadn't bothered to check how long she had been asleep. Spectre had apparently removed her dress sometime during the night to make sure she didn't get sick from the constant, cold dampness on the fabric, perhaps. Zen-Ya found herself lacking it suddenly when she was aware she fell asleep with it earlier. Knowing that there was only one other place she could think to check regarding where her mate could be, Zen-Ya opened the door leading out the back slowly to see that it was still dark and that Spectre was indeed standing there on their small balcony near the steps.

Even though he heard the door open behind him, Spectre didn't move his focus from where it was fixated. His eyes were narrowed and they were locked beyond the thick darkness, which felt suffocating to him. _It's happening…_ He thought to himself, feeling his heart squeeze in a mixture of emotions.

When he didn't turn around, Zen-Ya moved the blond strands mixed with brown out of her line of sight to get a better look at the guardian before her. "Spectre?"

Hearing Zen-Ya call his name, Spectre turned around slowly to gaze at her beyond the helmet he had put back on with the rest of his attire as he still desired to hide his shame. "Your clothing is mostly dry now," he confirmed, as he noted she hadn't bothered to redress. "I had checked it before I ventured out here."

Smiling briefly for the information, Zen-Ya reached for him to hug the elder tightly and enjoy just having him there in her arms. "I'll be fine," she insisted before looking out at the dark world around them. "Shouldn't you get back to your shift? It's still dark. You could probably make it without the doctor finding out."

Spectre followed her gaze out into the dusk before he looked back at her with a shake of his head. "It's not…night, Zen-Ya. It's very much in the morning."

"Wh-What…?" She wondered breathlessly between them as she couldn't understand why it was still so dark around them if that were the case. "Why is it so gloomy then? What's going on?" Zen-Ya wanted to believe her husband was merely joking, but she knew Spectre wasn't the joking type.

It looked as though the guardian was punched in the stomach when she asked those questions. "I cannot tell you why it is," Spectre said honestly between them. "I promise you that the Brotherhood will investigate it."

Once again, pain seemed to linger upon his tone when he spoke. Zen-Ya wished to ask what he meant, but the fact he came clean with what he had, she didn't desire to push her luck. "Spectre, please," she pleaded as she hugged onto him tightly. "Just promise me you'll be careful with whatever you do."

The guardian didn't respond right away when she expressed her concern. If anything, Zen-Ya felt his body tense against her loving embrace. "I'll do whatever I can to make sure you stay safe," he spoke, almost in an aggressive manner.

"Why is the moon still up in the sky," Zen-Ya asked with a somber sigh, knowing that Spectre wasn't going to put her mind at ease. "Also, why is it…red?"

"It's said to be Enerjak's anger," Spectre responded. Reaching over to the wooden railing before him, he gripped the structure tightly to the point it groaned with a warning that it would easily break soon enough if he continued to apply that sort of pressure to it. "We screwed up," the guardian growled lowly.

"Enerjak's…anger…?" Zen-Ya wondered aloud as she wrapped her arms tightly about his right.

"Oh, that's right," Spectre mumbled as he eyed his wife. "You were never told about the demigod Enerjak, were you?"

With the information Thunderhawk had given Zen-Ya that night, she wasn't sure if she would be allowed to utter it again. "Brother Thunderhawk told me a bit about it not too long ago, actually," she admitted.

Spectre would have asked what exactly was said, but he refrained as he found these new turn of events more important. "I best go hunt down Finitevus and see what he says about this." His sigh indicated that this wasn't exactly something he desired to do but more along the lines of something he needed to do.

Zen-Ya refused to gaze back up at the blood red moon. It made her feel faint just thinking about the unnatural coloration. Making sure the covers remained around her naked form, she hurried inside of their home to notice Spectre heading for the front door. "You did eat something this morning, didn't you?" Zen-Ya asked with concern. "Even with your robotics, Spectre, you're not immortal—same could be said for your chaos powers you wield. You need to eat."

He had stopped right at the door, but Spectre didn't bother to look at her when she reminded him of the amount of mortality he did have. "I'll worry about it later," he lied, as he wanted to put Zen-Ya's mind at ease before leaving their bedroom.

When the door shut behind him, Zen-Ya shook her head with worry. He hadn't been eating regularly as he used to. While it was hard to notice change in his weight with the clothing he wore regularly, she could still feel that he was a bit underweight given what she felt and saw last night. _He's going to make himself sick_, she thought with a worried furrow of her brow.

Rubbing her face to try and ease the stress from her, Zen-Ya turned to her clothing to see that it was indeed dry. She could also easily smell that they had been washed as well, so that was something else Spectre had done while she still slept in the night. Smiling briefly at the quiet acts of kindness he would do without her knowing, she worked on redressing herself since the room was all hers for the time being.

Zen-Ya had to admit relief that there were no windows to see the encroaching shadows, which had engulfed Angel Village. "I wonder what the other wives have been told about this," she pondered aloud to herself. Admittedly, the only other wife she had seen lately was Lara-Le, and even Lara-Le wasn't speaking given the fact Sabre claimed she had lost her voice since Locke's disappearance.

With the night constant now, Zen-Ya wasn't even sure if she was allowed outside of Haven. Since Spectre was going to talk to Finitevus about what was going on, she decided to venture back to the library in an attempt to keep her mind off of the stressful thoughts, which were consuming her.

Haven felt empty. Perhaps all of the guardians went to talk to Finitevus and the legionnaires about what they should do the world acting so unnatural. Upon turning down one of the many corridors in Haven, Zen-Ya found that the sconces had been blown out or merely just not lit. Either way, seeing the lightless hallway before her made her fur stand on end. _I have to get to the library through here_, she grumbled, rubbing her upper arms nervously.

Without any candles nearby for her to light and her unable to find the matches, Zen-Ya stayed close to the nearby wall. Her hands moving in front of her with her palms against the wooden surface, she felt her way through the dark corridor. Just as she felt herself getting close to the end, Zen-Ya stopped suddenly as she heard a familiar voice whispering in the darkness just in the next hall. _Lara-Le…?_ Zen-Ya wondered, feeling her heard pound rapidly at the thought Lara-Le was actually speaking.

The tone was a bit in the distance, it felt, so Lara was probably further down the connecting corridor. Zen-Ya carefully gripped the woodwork of the archway she could feel was close by to peer cautiously into the hall to her right. The sconces at the end of the corridor where Lara-Le was were lit, but only two out of the many that lined that pathway. Zen-Ya could see that Lara-Le was talking to somebody in the other connecting passageway within Haven, but she merely listened for the time being to hear what was going on as the male voice was a lot more silent and even more distant compared to Lara's.

"Sabre has already done so," Lara-Le whispered, as she kept her hands folded before her. "He is hoping to get to the bottom of this."

"There is no getting to the bottom of this, Lara-Le," said the male voice quietly in return. "He is coming, and there is no stopping his anger from what I had done…"

Lara-Le was quiet after hearing him say that. She struggled with a response before lowering her quivering lip to finally say something. "But you did it for me, Locke…"

Zen-Ya inhaled quietly realizing that Locke was probably the one hiding in the other corridor Lara was looking down. _He-He's here…! He was…he was never missing…?_

"I miss you so much," Lara continued, her voice cracking upon every word. "Why can't you come back to me…?"

"I wish it were so easy," Locke's voice whispered somberly in return, "but you know it is not. I am risking a lot just by speaking to you. I could easily endure a fate worse than this if I am caught."

"I understand," Lara-Le said quietly with a shake of her head. "Just…please, come back to me…"

Zen-Ya waited for something else to be said, however it seemed that was the end of the conversation. _All this time…Lara-Le could speak and Locke was never missing_, she thought, feeling a bit betrayed by the fellow wife who she viewed as a good friend. With Lara-Le heading in her direction, Zen-Ya wrinkled her brow in anger. When Lara-Le got close enough to where she was, Zen-Ya stepped out of hiding to block her from continuing. Hearing Lara inhale sharply at someone standing there, Zen-Ya looked at Lara-Le with a slow shake of her head. "How…how could you…? All this time you could speak, and you let everyone around you believe you couldn't!"

Lara-Le brought her hands to her chest with a shake of her head. She realized that Zen-Ya had probably overheard a good deal of what was said and lying about it would be pointless and a waste of time. "I…I couldn't speak before hand," she admitted quietly between them in the darkened hallway. However, that was all that she admitted to. "Listen, sister Zen-Ya," Lara-Le began, grabbing onto Zen-Ya's wrists desperately. "You must promise me that you never speak to anybody about what you saw here."

"But, I—."

"Please, Zen-Ya!" Lara-Le begged with a tighter hold onto her wrists. "If you tell that false guardian, he'll…I'll…I'll never get to see Locke again…"


	6. Chapter 6

The whole moment with Lara-Le continued to run through Zen-Ya's mind as she had finally made her way to the library and sat herself down at one of the many tables in attempt to focus on other things. However, the one window that used to give her a welcoming glimpse into the outside world she missed so much was now putting her on edge. The red moon's light crept across the floor, painting it in an unnerving blood like texture. Her icy-blue eyes kept a firm gaze upon it until she noticed something. Just staring at the floorboards, the cracks within the boards began to bubble with an obscene mount of blood.

Her heart racing, Zen-Ya got to her feet and pulled from the book she was reading to watch as the blood was starting to slowly crawl towards her. Her breathing hastening at the frightful sight, she soon found her back against the wall as the crimson liquid continued to reach for her like blooded hands hoping to drag her under. Zen-Ya hadn't noticed that she was screaming 'no' as terror had paralyzed her and numbed her senses. With everything going quiet, it was then Zen-Ya's body suddenly went taut with a sharp inhale at her mind attempting to resurface old memories.

The Master Emerald standing there alone in that wooden chamber, she could only see it in the darkness of her mind whenever the emerald glowed a fiery green to illuminate the area. Upon the third time it lit back up, Zen-Ya was horrified to see the emerald was almost coated in blood. Her orange fur standing on end, the horrific screams that banged into her mind made her scream as well only to hear nothing come from her mouth.

She continued to make her ill attempts to be heard within the back of her mind only to no avail. All she could hear was an awkward, unnerving humming sound mixing with the cries, which got louder and louder the more she focused on it. Her hands upon her head, she lowered herself to the ground tearfully. Zen-Ya felt trapped within her own mind as she found nothing managing to bring her back to herself until a firm shake from an outside force suddenly made the young echidna snap out of her trance.

"_**Zen-Ya!**_" Spectre called again, shaking his wife a bit more forcefully in attempts to break through her sudden sanity lapse.

Shaking her head, Zen-Ya could feel her right cheek was stinging a bit when she finally was able to feel, see, and hear clearly again. Touching the tender area, she hissed slightly from the pain. "What…happened…?" She asked with a moan of discomfort.

"I'm sorry," Spectre apologized, realizing Zen-Ya was fixated on her cheek. "I had to slap you in order to snap you out of it. I tried everything else before hand." He watched her cautiously, helping her slowly stand as the elder was hoping she was alright. "You were screaming bloody murder in here. What is wrong? Did something happen in here?"

Zen-Ya opened her mouth to speak but she realized, telling Spectre something such as that sounded insane, so she swallowed her words, which continued to hang in her throat. "It was…it was nothing…"

"Hmm," Spectre hummed, watching her move from the wall in an unsteady manner. "Well, I don't know if I call staring out at nothing in particular while screaming 'no' again and again 'nothing', but I guess that's one man's opinion."

Cupping her head in her hands, Zen-Ya just wanted to forget what it was she saw. "I just don't want to admit I'm going crazy," she whispered honestly. "My memories are now becoming…vivid…" She could feel Spectre's hand upon her shoulder soon enough. The feel of him there was only able to provide so much comfort for her.

"It's not you," responded the dark furred guardian as he squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. "It's the moon." When Zen-Ya gave him that confused, frightened look, he nodded towards the window. "The moon," he began once more. "According to Dr. Finitevus, it is plaguing people with vivid hallucinations and nightmares." Spectre only glanced back at the window before he reached for a portion of his black, tattered attire to conceal Zen-Ya within it. "Come—it's wise that you don't look at it anymore."

Burying her face into his chest, she walked carefully with him through the darkened hallways of Haven. "What are we going to do then?" Zen-Ya asked. "Everyone must be suffering from…whatever it is that happened." She refrained from pointing out that it was something Locke must have done given what she had previously overheard in one of the nearby corridors.

Spectre didn't answer right away. If anything, he struggled to even find the right words to say. Hearing Zen-Ya call his name, he looked down at his startled mate. "I wish I had the answers, but I don't," he responded simply as he managed to find the bedroom corridor.

"While it's sometimes hard to read the true meaning behind your words, it's become awkwardly easier as of late," Zen-Ya pointed out somberly as Spectre opened the bedroom door for her. Feeling his red eyes upon her, she looked upwards at him with a shake of her head. "I know you have the answers—you're just refusing to tell me what they are…"

Upon making it into the room with her, Spectre shut the door behind him slowly with a low growl tickling his throat. "I shouldn't have to point out what is obvious and right before your eyes," he said in a disgruntled tone. When he saw the disapproving look upon her face, he shook his head while massaging his forehead. "Forgive me. I am merely stressed right now."

"If everything should be so damn obvious, you could at least put my mind at ease and tell me what it is!" Zen-Ya countered a bit angrily, regardless of Spectre's apology.

"You haven't been forthcoming with information either, but I've not pried it out of you," Spectre desired to point out to his wife as he gestured at her with a narrowing of his eyes.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, upon making her way to the storage room in the kitchen.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Spectre continued to glare at her it seemed. "All these memories flooding back to you, and I have to hear from Finitevus that you've confessed that to _**him**_ of all people?"

"It wasn't like I had a choice!" Zen-Ya yelled defensively as she opened the storage room door to shift through the barrels of ice to find what she needed. "He had me cornered in the garden, and he wanted to see if I was experiencing memories of that night. All I told him was that I remembered some things from the jumbled mess, and that was it! I wasn't exactly descriptive!" It was then she paused, remembering what the doctor had said to her.

"_**I would say ask that husband of yours,"**_ Finitevus' voice rang within the back of her mind. _**"He might have some answers for you."**_

When she struggled once more with what he meant by that when they last spoke, Zen-Ya remembered hearing that male shouting for her the night she was running away from the village. Running the tone of her name being yelled in comparison to Spectre's own voice, she realized it was him running after her that night. Her face breaking into a bit of startling revelation, Zen-Ya almost appeared terrified as her mind struggled to break enough sense into that memory when she was caught. "Oh my God…!" She stammered as she looked at Spectre and nearly lost her footing.

The images flooded back into her mind as she remembered hearing Spectre screaming for her as she ran for safety. Hitting her stomach against the fallen tree, Zen-Ya recalled hurrying across the clearing to escape from him only to be stopped by one of the hooded guardians. Trying to get the face of the guardian to come into focus, she couldn't see him too well with how dark it was that night. But there was one thing that did come into her mind: the guardian that grabbed her from behind was Spectre. When he had done what he did to cause her to go rigid, she remembered she had collapsed into his arms, and his red eyes were the last thing she saw before her own icy-blue closed.

"What? What is wrong?" Spectre asked, as he could see Zen-Ya looked panicked. When she didn't answer right away, he started to come towards her. "Zen-Ya—?"

"What did you do to me!" Zen-Ya screamed, realizing he had done something that night to cause her memory loss.

"What are you talking about?" asked Spectre once more as he tried to reach for Zen-Ya from where she was soon sitting upon the ground.

"Don't touch me!" She demanded, unable to believe her own husband would be the reason she lost her memory. "That-that night—it was you, wasn't it! It was _**you**_ that caused me to lose my memory!"

While he could see she was hysterical about it, Spectre looked at her unflinching at first until he briefly gazed to the side to show his twinge of guilt in the candlelit room. "It's called a chaos mind wipe," Spectre admitted finally. Seeing that Zen-Ya still wasn't letting up, he opened his arms with a quick shrug of his shoulders. "It's dangerous to do, but I was panicked. I needed to buy more time, and if I dragged you back to the village with your memories still in tow after what you saw, Finitevus would have had you killed on the spot."

"You didn't even bother to tell me what you did!" Zen-Ya exclaimed, feeling sick to her stomach at that moment. "You wiped my mind, and you didn't tell me!" She was having a hard time wrapping her thoughts around this event coming to her clearly. Even if he was doing it to protect her, it felt underhanded all the same.

Unable to control his temper much longer, the guardian finally released it. "I was going to lose you that night anyways!" Spectre roared furiously from the emotions that were ripping at his old heart. "If you could have one more week, hell, one more _**day**_ with the one you loved, wouldn't you do it no matter what it took!"

Hearing him say that made Zen-Ya's blood run cold and her jaw drop. "Wh-What…? What do you mean you were supposed to lose me that night…?"

Spectre huffed, closing his eyes with a shake of his lowered head. "In the end, Zen-Ya …you cannot let Finitevus know you're regaining your memories," expressed the guardian in a solemn sort of sternness. "While it doesn't really change a whole lot, what I did, the process will only speed itself up if you actually remember that entire night." He paused and looked about the room as if expecting someone to be sneaking around in their living space. "Finitevus doesn't want you to remember the event either, because he doesn't want you to have a reason to try and leave Angel Village again until his goals are met."

Zen-Ya was about to say something but lost her words when she saw Spectre turn from her to head back to that same corner he usually stood at near the foot of the bed. With how he seemed to carry himself at that moment, he appeared more heartbroken than anything—perhaps even much older than he usually seemed. While he was doing his best to hide his emotions, his body language was speaking volumes. Putting her anger aside, Zen-Ya brought her hand to her chest as she wished more than ever her heart would stop aching as well. All this time, their moments together were limited, and he never bothered to mention that. _No wonder he was acting as distant as he was_, Zen-Ya thought as her chest continued to pain her.

Upon getting to her feet, she made her way over to Spectre who had his eyes closed and appearing lost in thought. Reaching for him, Zen-Ya's fingertips touched his cheek to get the elder to look at her. Even if he wasn't crying and that same neutral frown was there, she could easily see the pain in his eyes.

Spectre did his best to hide his shame, if anything when he looked at Zen-Ya. Closing his eyes tightly, he sighed a melancholy sigh. "I am sorry for being as distant as I have been," he said quietly between them. "The reason I have been so is because I felt…it would make the ending easier for me." He shook his head as if to rid himself of the idea of what was to come eventually. "The reason I don't eat either is because I am just old, and I am tired of this. Even for a partial immortal, your heart can only take so much damage before it stops working, and you lose your desire to live."

Zen-Ya rested her cheek against her husband's shoulder, unable to think of anything that could make the situation better. Her tears were mixed with many feelings—anger, frustration, sorrow, love—as they crept from her eyes and stained her cheeks. She wanted to be comforting, but what could she even do? Spectre had more power than she, and even then, he felt defeated in the situation. "I am not…too certain what happened that night, but why don't you escape with me? You are the strongest guardian there is right now. We could easily do it!"

"But then I would be leaving my people and my family here to rot," Spectre responded as he closed his eyes tighter to hide the obvious pain that was lining his red oculars. "While I love you, Zen-Ya, I cannot hold one person above everyone else." Quiet for a moment, he reopened his eyes slowly. "However, that doesn't mean I cannot help you escape from here."

She could hear the heaviness in his voice when he said those last few words to her. While he wouldn't openly admit it, Spectre didn't want her to run from the village to where he knew he'd never be able to see her again. Gripping onto his black attire, she frowned with a shake of her head. "If I stay, I lose you, and if I leave, I lose you. There's no way for either of us to win except stay together until our fates are decided…right?"

Moving the arm she was resting against, the old guardian brought her close to his body in a bit of a hug. His heart felt as though it would just stop working any moment with the pain that had a tight hold on it. The feel of sorrow weighing heavily upon him once more was suffocating. It felt as though some invisible force was just pushing him harshly into the ground waiting for his body to crumble underneath it. "If you have to lie to Dr. Finitevus, should he inquire about your memories, do so. While he has a black version of the guardian mark, he is not one of us…he's always been a false guardian we've all been forced to follow."

Zen-Ya refused to move from Spectre at that moment. She worried if she did so, he would wander off again, and now knowing that every second was precious, she couldn't afford to have that happen. "Spectre, what did you all decide to do about the moon…?" Her words were muffled, as she had her face partially buried into his chest.

"Finitevus is thinking of what to do since we are now lacking…three of the people we need to appease this unholy demigod," Spectre whispered with a slight tense of his body.

"Three people? What three people?" Zen-Ya asked as she looked up at the elder.

Spectre avoided her eyes once more. He continued to stare forward at nothing in particular with a shake of his head. "Don't ask questions," he seemed to plead with a bit of annoyance lingering in his tone. "You know if you ask questions, your memories are going to come back into full bloom…then Finitevus will have no more desire for you to be here."

Feeling the guardian pull away from her for a moment, Zen-Ya caught her breath quickly and reached for Spectre as he started to venture to the back door. "Where are you going?" She asked nervously, not desiring to be left alone in Haven at that moment; especially with someone she knew wanted her dead.

"I am going to the Chaos Chamber," Spectre answered, his hand upon the old doorknob. "If anything, the answers to the problems all lie there."

"But-but the red moon," Zen-Ya stammered, reaching for his arm to try and keep her husband put. "You said it causes nightmares and hallucinations. You're going to drive yourself mad out there!"

Spectre looked to her with an unreadable frown. "I've faced these nightmares before," he said honestly.

The look in his eyes sent a chill down Zen-Ya's spine. There was something there that just made him seem deadly, and she found her hold upon her mate weakening as she backed away slowly from Spectre. "Please…please, don't leave me here alone…I don't want to be without you right now…"

Hearing the young woman's voice crack in that dimly lit room, Spectre began to remove his hand from the doorknob. "Zen-Ya, the longer I just stay put here doing nothing, the closer your end nears. While I plan on spending what time I can with you, I want to believe there is also a solution for us out there that can stop all this. I will be back, and remember, don't talk to _**anyone**_ about your memories."

Sniffling back her sadness, Zen-Ya hesitantly nodded. She watched from the bedside as the eerie red light briefly filled their living space before it was shut out by Spectre closing the door behind him. Embracing herself, the orange furred echidna looked about the empty room in wonder as to what to do. She felt too sick to her stomach to bother with eating as she had originally planned. Heading back to the library was out of the question and even going anywhere within Haven made her knees threaten to buckle under the thought that Finitevus or one of the legionnaires may swipe her up and murder her.

Managing to sit down on the old bed, Zen-Ya never thought that covers would be so welcoming. Whether she realized it or not, she was running herself ragged with the emotions and thoughts hitting her body all at once. _Sleep, maybe_, she thought. _Sleep might do me good._

Kicking off her shoes, Zen-Ya didn't bother removing the rest of her attire. Her exhaustion was really starting to cripple her the more her figure came to realize she was going to lie down soon. Even the thought of nightmares didn't deter her as she was soon fast asleep upon her head hitting the pillow.

It was disheartening to admit but, Zen-Ya was becoming rather used to the traumatic memories resurfacing bit by bit. The Chaos Chamber—she could see it steadily rock in and out of focus as well as the hooded figures in the room. The sounds of women crying, Zen-Ya looked over to the left of her to see Lara-Le there chained to the floor by her wrists and ankles with one of the hooded figures beside her. With how the faceless echidna held onto her in a loving and reassuring manner, Zen-Ya was left to assume it was Locke.

"_**Sojourner**_," Finitevus' voice echoed angrily, as he headed over to the guardian on the opposite side of the giant Chaos Emerald. "_**We will start with you this time**_."

The scene was happening on the other side of the room, so sadly Zen-Ya couldn't make too much out. She could just see Finitevus' tattered, black cape with Thunderhawk and his wife standing off to the eastern side of the emerald. Sojourner gestured furiously, hissing something in an angry whisper in which Zen-Ya couldn't catch. Whatever it was caused Thunderhawk to lash out in return.

"_**She is not going first! My last wife went first the last time we did this!**_" Thunderhawk roared angrily as he kept his hand upon Cecil-Ia's shoulder. "_**I won't let you take her from me so soon!**_"

Once again, Sojourner responded with something else, but it was too muffled for Zen-Ya to hear it clearly.

"_**Does it really matter!**_" Finitevus yelled between the two to break up the bickering. "_**Both of them are going to die anyways! One of you better choose, or I will choose for you!**_"

Thunderhawk's focus tore from Finitevus and Sojourner as he felt his wife use him to stand. The red female with pink hair looked over at her husband with a tears lining her eyes and a painful smile upon her muzzle. "_**I would do anything for you…this is no exception**_," Cecil-Ia admitted to Thunderhawk.

Inhaling sharply, Zen-Ya woke from the nightmare to find herself drenched in sweat. Bringing her hands to her face, she attempted to rouse herself further after the nightmarish memories threatened to unfold again. _I fear to make sense of it all…even if it could be too easy to do so now_, Zen-Ya admitted to herself. Moving her bi-colored hair from her face, she looked back at the wall near the foot of her bed to find it void of her husband. "Spectre," she whispered aloud to herself, her eyes shining with tears as Zen-Ya thought about what they had spoken of before he left for the Chaos Chamber. Bringing her hands to her nose, she furrowed her brow sadness. "Great Goddess…please…save us from this hell…"

Zen-Ya noticed that it was supposed to be a little after two in the afternoon at that moment. She knew it had to have been an hour or so ago when Spectre left for the chamber. While the thought of nightmares and visions plaguing her on the way there frightened Zen-Ya from stepping foot outside of Haven, she was more concerned about what had happened with Spectre and what could possibly be taking him so long. Hurrying to the closet, Zen-Ya pulled out a hooded robe she usually wore about the village whenever it was raining. Since she lacked blinders of any kind, it would have to suffice as she took a quick step out the door without a second thought on the matter.

While the Chaos Chamber wasn't far from Haven, the walk felt like an eternity for Zen-Ya. Every little sound that she could hear in the surrounding woods nearly made her look from the ground and expose her eyes to the angry, blood red light above her. When the wooden steps leading into the Chaos Chamber came into view, Zen-Ya hurried up the steps and groped for the doorknob before making her way inside with an unsteady breath.

Hearing the door open and close so hastily, Spectre turned around from where he stood looking at the Master Emerald. "Zen-Ya," the guardian began irritably, "what are you doing out here?"

Removing the hood from about her head, Zen-Ya didn't care that Spectre sounded angry with her as she hurried towards him. "I'm sorry," she apologized with a shake of her head, outstretching her arms to grab onto him tightly. "Right now, I just don't want to be left alone…!"

Spectre didn't respond to the hug right away. If anything, he merely froze as he was more furious inwardly that Zen-Ya didn't do as he asked. "Do you not understand you are putting yourself at risk by being out here? I can withstand whatever Enerjak throws at me, but you may find your sanity hanging by a thread!"

"I don't care," Zen-Ya whispered in response as she nuzzled tearfully against his chest. Looking up at Spectre, she grabbed onto the sides of his helmet to lower his head a bit closer to her. Kissing the tip of his nose, she felt it wiggle side to side. "I am not going to spend my time sitting back at Haven waiting for you to return in a mess of my own sorrow and fears. If you plan on looking for a solution, I want to be right there with you," Zen-Ya said honestly, holding onto Spectre tightly, worried that he would slip between from fingers again and she would never see him.

Realizing it would be pointless to argue with her, Spectre sighed as he stroked her cheek in a means to make her part from him. "Then you should let me continue what it was I was doing," he insisted, turning from her to look back at the Master Emerald.

Looking about the chamber, Zen-Ya couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy in the space. With all the memories plaguing her regarding that room, she couldn't help but tremble even if it meant being next to the guardian she loved. Her icy-blue eyes drifting over towards the northern wall, she noticed more of the hooded robes that the guardians and dark legionnaires usually wore about the village and during important events. "I notice that you are the only guardian that doesn't wear one of those hooded robes like the others. I would have assumed Dr. Finitevus would have been furious with you for not doing so."

Spectre had sat down in front of the Master Emerald in a meditation sort of position. Hearing her comment regarding the robes, he released a nasally sigh. "Because he knows I won't be afraid to beat him with his own warp rings if he makes me."

While he rarely cracked jokes, Zen-Ya couldn't help but laugh at the comment until she saw the look in his eyes—signifying he wasn't intending for that to come across as a joke—making her clear her throat in a bit of discomfort from laughing as she had. Her fingers drifting from her lips, she gazed back down at Spectre with a raise of her brow when he turned to focus back on the emerald. "So how is this going to help you find answers?"

"First and foremost, you need to be quiet, please," Spectre said, his words labored with thought. "I cannot concentrate when you're talking to me."

It had been some time since Zen-Ya last ventured to the Chaos Chamber. Apparently, the last major moment was wiped from her mind no thanks to Spectre, so she couldn't remember the layout of the room so well. It was a simple square space with a rack for clothing near the north section and an empty table to the north, east, and west. The chaos emerald was placed in the middle of the room amidst four surrounding pillars that had lit candles at the center of them. Wandering to one of them, Zen-Ya placed her hand upon one of the wooden pillars only to find herself removing it quickly after.

So much sadness poured from the inanimate object and right into Zen-Ya that it even prompted tears to crawl from her eyes. Wiping her face quickly, she turned to Spectre to ask if they could leave, but the words only escaped in the form of a shaky breath when she saw a ghostly figure standing beside her husband. It was female, and she had her hand upon Spectre's shoulder and appeared to be whispering something in his ear. "Sp-Spectre…!" She stuttered, wondering if he heard or even felt the spirit that was nearby.

Spectre didn't move when Zen-Ya spoke his name. However, the female standing beside him paused in her whispering to look directly at Zen-Ya. Her hair, which was braided on either side of her face with bangs messily concealing a portion of her blue eyes, was a pale looking brown with her fur a translucent violet. There was something in her eyes that brought a small calming to Zen-Ya but it didn't override the fact there was something there that wasn't supposed to be.

"_**Spectre!**_" Zen-Ya yelled this time, hoping it would snap him from his concentration this time.

"What!" Spectre exclaimed in a bit of worry, as he pulled from where he was sitting near the emerald to run to Zen-Ya. "What! What is it!" He pried, noticing that his mate was staring near where he was previously. Spectre followed her gaze to see nothing there, making him believe she was merely seeing things again. "I need to get you back to Haven. Enerjak is getting to you."

"N-No, there was a woman there!" Zen-Ya insisted, trying to fight against Spectre's desire to remove her from the Chaos Chamber. While the apparition was no longer there, Zen-Ya wasn't about to deny what she saw. "She was-she was whispering to you, and she had brown hair and purple fur! I saw her!"

Spectre suddenly stopped guiding Zen-Ya out of the room when he heard what she said about the woman he couldn't see. "What did you say…?" He asked, cocking his brow at Zen-Ya with an unsettling tone.

"She had brown hair that was braided on either side of her face and she had violet fur with blue eyes," Zen-Ya explained, not sure why Spectre appeared as though someone had punched him in the stomach.

Turning from Zen-Ya, he hurried back from where she had been looking earlier. "Is she still there!" Spectre exclaimed, looking feverishly about the space.

"N-No," she responded with a slow shake of her head. "She vanished when you got up…" Placing her hand upon her forehead, Zen-Ya took in a steady breath. "I-I'm sorry; I shouldn't have let that get to me but…she looked real…"

"She _**was**_ real!" Spectre growled eagerly, wishing he could have seen what it was Zen-Ya had. Realizing he wasn't making any sense, the guardian closed his eyes tightly with a small shake of his head in attempts to recollect himself. "I'm sorry it's just—that sounds like you saw Kali-Ka…my late wife."


	7. Chapter 7

"Your…late wife…?" Zen-Ya asked curiously. She could feel her orange fur prickling at the thought she actually had seen a ghost. "Why would your wife's ghost…be lingering here still…?"

Spectre paused in his actions near the Master Emerald to look over his shoulder at Zen-Ya with a raise of his brow; his look insinuating that he probably wouldn't give her an answer of sorts in hopes of keeping her memories at bay as he wasn't sure what she had unraveled so far. Huffing out his frustration, the elder turned his focus back to the glowing emerald. "I heard many voices…but hers was not one of them."

Zen-Ya expelled a nasally sigh, seeing in his red eyes that it was obviously painful to have not picked up on someone he was formally mated to. "I wish I could be more help," she admitted with her shoulders relaxing in a defeated fashion. "Sadly, I couldn't make out a word she was saying." She nervously chuckled, pulling back her wavy, bi-colored hair at his mention of voices. "Normally I don't ask this sort of thing but…_voices_? Should I be concerned about that?"

"From my forefathers," Spectre responded as he placed his gloved hand upon the magical item. "Those that are linked to the Master Emerald remain forever so." His red eyes narrowed in a bit of concern as he thought on what he had heard. "They sound restless."

Smiling briefly at the vague information, Zen-Ya ventured over towards her husband to hug him from behind. "Did they give you anything helpful?"

Spectre didn't respond to the hug. If anything, he was trying to make sense of the random hissing of whispers he caught when trying to link up to his ancestors. "Out of what I could manage to make out…nothing good is on the horizon."

A worried frown creeping upon her muzzle, Zen-Ya rested her cheek against the tattered cloak he was wearing with a somber sigh. "Spectre…" she began reluctantly, "…I think I know what is…to be expected of—."

"Enough," Spectre interjected irritably, as he had a feeling he knew what she was about to say.

"It has to be said, Spectre," Zen-Ya insisted a bit more forcefully this time even if it was painful to do so. Her grip upon his dark attire tightened as she turned her head to rest her forehead against his back. "I don't want to do this but…if that is what it takes to get everything back to normal…"

"I said _**enough**_, Zen-Ya!" Spectre roared, as he spun around and grabbed onto her upper arms to hold her firmly. "I don't care what you think is to be expected of you or what _**is**_ to be so! I didn't submit to the thought of having another mate just to lose her again!"

Biting at her lower lip, Zen-Ya did her best to keep her emotions from surfacing further. She didn't want to leave Spectre either, but from what was gradually unfolding, she had a feeling that it may eventually happen.

"Our time may be limited, but all I ask is for you to bear with me," the elder said sternly as his tight hold upon Zen-Ya began to loosen. "I will find an answer to this before it's too late; I swear it." With a small sigh, Spectre gestured back towards the front door. "Please head back to Haven. While I enjoy your company, I need to concentrate."

With the tone he often used, it was hard to tell if he was actually agitated or just being genuinely kind in his own way. Zen-Ya hated to feel like a bother to Spectre, but she hated the thought of their union being torn apart soon enough. Given how stressed he acted, however, Zen-Ya knew better than to push her luck with her husband and nodded slightly regardless of the pain that rose up in her chest regarding being alone again. "Fine," she whispered as she pulled her hooded cloak tighter to her body. "Just…be careful." Her icy-blue eyes drifted about the old boards all about her with her orange fur unable to settle under the feeling. "I get a very uneasy feeling about this place…"

Spectre would have pointed out why, but he declined the thought. "I'll return later," he said simply, as he began to pace about the Master Emerald.

Upon heading to the door, Zen-Ya's desire to have company crippled her for a moment. If she went back to Haven, the only company she would have would be the other Brotherhood members, and they all appeared to be terribly on edge and avoiding her. Lara-Le was still playing the mute card for all she knew, and Zen-Ya didn't wish to risk exposing her as she had promised her fellow wife of the Brotherhood she wouldn't. There was only one other person she could think of, and that would mean going against Spectre's words once more.

Upon slowly opening the door and closing it behind herself, Zen-Ya brought the hood as far over her head as possible while gazing down at the rickety old boards, which were painted in the crimson hue, below her. _Please…forgive me… _Without another thought on the matter, she hurried as quickly as she could back into Angel Village to hunt for the constable's house.

Zen-Ya figured the guardians and the dark legionnaires wouldn't be around with the moon emitting its furious gaze all about the village. It made her walk from the Chaos Chamber to Remington's house that much easier. With his home soon coming into sight, she noticed that he, like most of the other buildings as of late, had boarded up his windows and any other areas that may cause the crimson light to corrupt him slowly from the inside. Raising her fist, she tapped upon the wooden door eagerly. "Remington? Remington, it's me—Zen-Ya," she called.

She could hear no movement on the other side at first. It took a moment before Remington's voice did arise. "Come in," he responded quietly back in return, "but be quick about it."

Doing as asked, Zen-Ya made it inside of the constable's house before shutting and locking the door behind her. "I apologize," she said breathlessly from the brisk jog. "However…I just needed to see…_**somebody**_…" Her eyes catching the constable's, Zen-Ya noticed that he was wavering a bit while his fingers clenched the wild tuft of black hair upon his head. "Are….are you alright…?"

Remington struggled to speak at first as he brought the other hand upwards to conceal his face. "The whispers," he grumbled with an irritable hiss. "They are like a nail being driven into my skull." His words stressed, Remington's grasp upon reality almost seemed to be faltering. "It's that damn moon…make it stop…!"

Quickly, Zen-Ya hurried over towards him and helped him to his bathroom where there was no way the light could reach either of them given the lack of a window. Sitting him down upon the carpet there in the center of the tile flooring, she furrowed her brow at his, almost, insane babbling. "Remington, just take a deep breath, alright?" Zen-Ya urged as she had shut the door behind them. "The moon's light cannot get to you here." Seeing the obvious pain in her childhood friend's face, she felt her heart break. "How long have you been exposed to it? You weren't foolish enough to walk about in it, were you?"

Taking in a steady breath, Remington attempted to recollect what had happened recently. "I was…I was out in it…a bit during the morning to try and tell the other villagers to board up their homes…" He flinched, showing the inward pain he was forced to endure.

"How long?" Zen-Ya demanded to know as she tried to move the carpet and get him to lie down on the tile in attempts to help him feel better. She was hoping the cool shock to his system might do the trick.

"For…three hours…maybe…more…?" Remington mumbled, his head steadily making it down to the cool flooring. Closing his eyes, he did his best to try and regain himself as his mind felt as though it wanted to split in two.

"Why…why would you do that…!" Zen-Ya exclaimed, rolling her fingers over his black hair to help him relax further.

"Finitevus wanted it to be done…" Remington's words were heavy, and it almost made him sound drunk with exhaustion. He furrowed his brow for a second while swallowing harshly (perhaps to keep down whatever food he had consumed). "I was…I was asked to do it…though I had nothing but my hat to deter Enerjak's rage….it wasn't enough…I guess…" It was painful to hear his tone starting to break, as if he were going to cry at any minute from the slow torture the moon had brought him. "I keep seeing things…and hearing things…it's about to drive me mad…"

Releasing a shaky sigh at her friend's torment, Zen-Ya thought on what might be best to keep the insanity at bay. It frightened her to think that there might not really be a cure for it. If that were the case, Remington was going to be left to wallow about in the frightening sights and sounds alone, and she couldn't allow that. "I cannot believe that monster made you do that," Zen-Ya expressed with a furious growl. "Did you want something to drink? Can you think of anything that might help?"

"This is helping," Remington whispered wearily, his eyes closed as he stayed upon the cold flooring. "I just…I just needed to get away from it…" He refused to open his eyes as he spoke to Zen-Ya. A part of him was worried if he did, he might view her as something unnatural and harm her. "Even in my bedroom…the light…peers through…boards are…hardly enough…"

"At this rate, the entire village will go insane," Zen-Ya pointed out, knowing that everyone couldn't hide from the light forever. A part of her couldn't help but feel she was to blame in all of this. She ran away from the Brotherhood that night, and possibly damned them all in what other part she played that evening.

"How long have…you been exposed…?" Remington asked as he fixated on his breathing best he could in an attempt to drown out the whispers.

"I guess enough to start seeing random pools of blood," Zen-Ya responded with a small chuckle in attempts to pass it off like it was nothing. "I've been exposed enough to it…I am sure it will only be a matter of time until I too go insane."

"And yet you're here," the brown echidna commented from where he resided upon the floor. "I understand your reasons, my friend, but…this is unwise to your health…you best head back to Haven…"

Zen-Ya couldn't help but feel a bit offended at his comment. "And leave you here alone with your growing insanity?" She brought her knees to her chest with a shake of her head. "Admittedly I grow worried over someone who hears and sees things that are so evil it nearly drives them mad. I don't need to leave and then come back to find you here marred in your own blood."

Opening one eye very briefly, Remington caught a glimpse of Zen-Ya before shutting it once more in case his sight decided to betray him again. "Is that what you think I'll do?"

She was quiet for a moment, bringing her chin to her knees. "I would…"

Expelling a painful chuckle, he shook his head best he could there on the floor. "Mm, you sell yourself short, Zeny."

"Don't call me that, _**Remy**_," Zen-Ya said in revenge as she nudged the constable with her elbow best she could from how she was sitting near him. Noticing that his words were sounding a bit less labored, she reached over and placed her hand upon his shoulder. "Are you feeling any better?"

"A bit," Remington answered, not moving much from Zen-Ya's touch. "Whispers are dying down some, but I still worry about the hallucinations. I might need to cover my eyes."

Zen-Ya looked about the bathroom for anything that might be helpful. Not finding anything ideal to wrap about his face, she grabbed onto her black with white trim dress to tear a portion of it. "This might be able to help, seeing as I don't want to try and wrap a towel about your face," she lightly joked as she began to conceal his eyes. "However…are you sure you'll be able to make it around the house with your eyes concealed like this?"

"Zen-Ya," Remington began with a small chuckle, "I've lived in this house for 8 years. I've even walked around in the darkness before with nothing but my hand to guide me. I should be okay." Feeling the cloth wrapped firmly about his eyes, Remington steadily rose to his feet with a small grunt. "Now then, what about yourself? You have to travel back to Haven at some point, or the doctor may come hunting for you."

With a quiet sigh, Zen-Ya buried her hands within her lap for a moment. "Maybe he should," she admitted between them. "After everything that has unfolded…I feel like I am to blame."

Remington's head tilted slightly in response to his friend's words. "Why do you say that?"

"You know very well what happened that night," Zen-Ya said tearfully as her hands clenched into fists. "I was to be…I wasn't _**supposed**_ to live that night…" She lowered her head in shame. "I ran away to save myself and this is the predicament we have ourselves into…"

"I do know what happened that night, but do you hear me demanding you to go back and offer yourself over to the ritual?" Remington asked as he felt around for the sink in the bathroom, so he would have a better way to return to the tile flooring. "Zen-Ya…this needs to stop no matter how we must repent!" He could still hear her crying to herself, making the constable's chest tighten. "The reason I was so against you marrying that guardian was because I had a feeling of what was to befall you when the time came, and I didn't want that…"

Pausing in her sobs, Zen-Ya looked over at Remington with a confused tilt of her head.

"I mean…didn't you know this would happen?" Remington asked with a raise of his bushy brow when Zen-Ya had yet to respond. "Didn't you find it odd that the guardians all looked for wives at the same time?"

"I guess I was so in love with Spectre for all those years that I didn't really care to focus on it," Zen-Ya admitted, as she had seen the guardian about town when she was just a little child. "When he was actually eligible….I just…" She sighed, embracing herself with a small whimper. "It doesn't matter how I phrase it in my head…I sound heartless in the end."

"You were in love," Remington pointed out as he felt for Zen-Ya's shoulder. "Seeing someone you love more than anything with somebody else is never an easy thing to witness. You never wished for his previous wife's death—you weren't even aware it was going to happen in your lifetime."

"I never wished her dead," Zen-Ya admitted with a somber sigh. "I envied her when I heard her name, but I never wished for something so tragic to happen to her." Zen-Ya could feel her heart squeezing at having to think of Kali-Ka being in the same situation she was in now. "If anything, I feel awful for what she had to endure, as I know what it's like to love someone so much only to realize your time is a lot shorter than you think." She paused, remembering that image of Kali-Ka she saw back at the Chaos Chamber. "I think I saw her too…at the chamber where the Master Emerald is."

"It's the moon," Remington said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "You never even saw Kali-Ka, so how would you know what she looked like?"

"Because I described the image I saw to Spectre," Zen-Ya said hesitantly. "He confirmed that it sounded very much like his late wife."

Remington didn't respond right away. His wrapped sight remained slightly tilted from Zen-Ya's as he thought on what she had said. "The dead are restless," he finally commented. "With Enerjak's rage boiling over, those that are tied to the emerald are stirring with unease, no doubt." Expelling a nasally sigh, he hefted himself back to his feet. "Anyways, you better get back to Haven. I do not want the doctor or the other guardians to find you here with all that has been going on lately."

She furrowed her brow while taking to her feet as well. "What about yourself? I cannot leave you here alone like this."

"Zen-Ya, if you're worried about me slicing my wrists or something, by all means, you know where my kitchen utensils are," he darkly joked as he helped her out of the bathroom quickly and to the front of his house best he could while being mindful of the furniture. "You can take them with you if you just get back to Haven. There are hardly any windows there, so you should be safe there."

Growling lowly at his choice of words, she managed to gain her own footing right at the door leading back out into the village. "Fight this best you can, Remington," Zen-Ya urged seriously, as she straightened her hooded cloak. "I promise I will do what I can to make this right."

"That's fine, but promise me you won't do it at the cost of your own life," Remington urged as he leaned within the doorway.

She would have asked him what her life meant compared to hundreds of others that risked going insane just because her blood didn't spill that night, but she knew if she had, Remington would have probably locked her in his bathroom. "I will do my best—this is all I can promise you." Without another word on the matter, Zen-Ya hurried as quickly as she could back to Haven.

The whispers began to get to her too. The words of doubt and the eerie tone hissing into her ears, Zen-Ya tried to pull the hood tighter about her head as she soon saw the blood red Haven within sight. _Nearly there…nearly there…!_ She thought as she hurried to the back door leading into her bedroom.

She never thought she would be so relieved to see those same, old looking walls. Shutting the door behind her quickly, Zen-Ya rested her back against the wooden frame with a shaky breath. Her legs buckling, she slowly lowered herself back down to the floor before bringing her forehead to her knees with a shake of her head. She was lost on what to do. Spectre had yet to return, once again, leaving her in that room by herself. A part of her wished she had dragged the constable back to Haven with her, but given the foot Spectre and Remington had started off on years back, the two never really got along well enough, and Zen-Ya didn't desire to stress out her husband further.

With a knock upon the main entryway, Zen-Ya made sure she wasn't hearing things at first before asking: "Who is it?"

"Zen-Ya, it's Sabre," the guardian answered behind the closed door. "You don't have to open the door, but I felt it safe to warn you." With his voice so quiet, she had to hurry across the small living space to the other door to press her ear against it. "Dr. Finitevus is coming for you soon enough. You best be on your guard."

Hearing Sabre's footsteps carry him away from her door, she sighed while closing her eyes. While a small part of her was frightened to face the doctor alone given the circumstances, Zen-Ya almost felt like going to him instead of Finitevus coming to her. She wanted answers in what was going on and what they were going to do about this madness that continued to taint the village morning, noon, and night. Biting at her thumb, Zen-Ya looked at the backdoor from whence she came to think about the guardian Spectre. If he knew the doctor was looking for her, he'd demand to come with her and the conversation would be strained, no doubt. Taking in a deep breath, Zen-Ya grabbed a tight hold onto what courage she had before taking her leave of the room and heading down to Dr. Finitevus' bedchambers at the end of the hall.

She hesitated at the sight of that ghastly design upon his door before finally finding the ability to knock. "Come in," Finitevus' voice beckoned sternly from the other side. Zen-Ya opened the door slowly to peer into his rather large study. He appeared to have a bigger space than the other guardians, making her wonder why given he was considered a false guardian by the others. Her eyes caught him there at this desk; writing away at who knows what before Finitevus fixed his glasses and looked up at the visitor. "Ah, Lady Zen-Ya," he began, as he pulled himself from his desk for a moment, "how ironic that I was just thinking about you. Do come in."

Her orange fur prickled at his eerie tone, which seemed to lack any feeling behind it. Closing the door behind her, Zen-Ya straightened her torn dress as she ventured closer to the large mahogany carved writing desk. "I came to talk to you about this moon," Zen-Ya admitted as she took to one of the chairs cushioned with green fabric when Finitevus gestured towards it. "Also…I came to talk to you about that night in particular."

Hearing her say such a thing, Finitevus turned his back to her in attempts to hide his curious grin. "Really? What did you want to know?" He asked, his hands folded behind his back.

"I know why I was there and why I ran," Zen-Ya admitted boldly, her fingers clenching tightly onto the wooden surface of the chair. "My question is…why? Why would you need the wives as you do…?"

Finitevus looked at the woman with a condescending scoff of sorts as he viewed her as nothing. "They say that women are the lifeblood of this planet and that their blood alone is the mightiest of all things. If that's the case, what would 5 wives at once do when summoning the demigod Enerjak?" A sick grin hooked upon his muzzle at the thought. "If anything, it has kept him at peace and his power grew stronger." His eyes narrowed slightly in remembering the formal ritual before the one Zen-Ya was forced to attend. "The fool, Spectre, nearly ruined it last time with the wife he had before you, so I had to make him sit the other one out, but that didn't stop that idiot Locke from throwing his life on the line and wrecking it all." Finitevus spat irritable at the thought. "While the idiot forfeit his life, that doesn't change the fact that his wife will soon be brought back before the emerald."

Zen-Ya felt her heart squeeze. She had heard Lara-Le speaking to Locke not that long ago. "What-What do you mean 'forfeit'?"

"Don't act brainless, child," Finitevus insisted with an irritable growl. "I mean what I meant—Locke died that night, and got what he deserved for jumping in the way of Lara-Le and her fate."

Breathless for a second, Zen-Ya struggled to think on how Lara-Le was even speaking to him that moment she saw her, but then it dawned on her when it came to the image of Kali-Ka and what Remington had mentioned about the spirits being restless. _The spirits are pulling from the Master Emerald… Even Kali-Ka is trying to connect with Spectre again…!_

"You look pale," Finitevus pointed out, breaking Zen-Ya from her thoughts. He crossed his arms over his chest while giving her a piercing gaze. "Is something bothering you?"

"N-No, I'm fine," Zen-Ya lied as she tried to prevent herself from passing out in the chair she was within.

"At any rate," Finitevus continued, as he headed over to the nearest bookshelf, "that's not the only reason sacrifices need to be made. We want to keep the power of the Master Emerald strong or else the guardians lose their powers and their immortality." Picking up a random book from the shelf, he turned to nothing in particular while continuing: "Now, given how much you must love the guardian, I imagine sparing your own life for him wouldn't be something that needed to be debated, yes?"

Zen-Ya growled lowly at the tactic he was trying to pull, knowing all too well that Finitevus knew the answer to that question.

"Without something to power it, the emerald's energy will be eventually depleted, and thus, your precious husband will age away into nothingness," the doctor pointed out, trying to hide his awkward glee on the matter. "Now tell me, is that what you want?" He looked over his shoulder smugly at the wife. Finitevus could see his words were getting to her, making him feel all the more pleasure in her discomfort. "I highly doubt you would want Spectre to fall apart right within your own arms."

"Of course not—!"

"So tell me, Zen-Ya," Finitevus began a bit more eagerly, "what's it going to be? Are you going to tuck your tail and run away again to save your own fur, or are you going to stay here and save your husband and the village you so lovingly covet?"

When he slammed the book down on the desk, Zen-Ya didn't budge. With her head lowered, her wavy, bi-colored hair covered a portion of her face before she had the courage to look upwards at Finitevus. "You know the answer to that…so why are you asking…?"


	8. Chapter 8

**_Author's Notes_**: Because of 's rules and regulations, a sex scene was removed from this chapter. If you're that interested, the links to my uncut stories are in my profile. Just head to . Oh, The Last of Us...how I love you, video game!

* * *

"Good girl," Finitevus said with a hard to read frown. "I would advise against running away, in the end. It is you this village needs to make everything right once more, and it is you who the guardian Spectre needs to keep his powers and immortality." He growled lowly to himself at the idea that Zen-Ya or anybody else would be so selfless, but for now, her selflessness worked for him and not against him.

Slowly, Zen-Ya rose to her feet and bowed to the doctor in attempts to exit and head back to her bedroom to wait for her husband to return. "Of course," she mostly whispered. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Dr. Finitevus." Zen-Ya was attempting to keep her emotions at bay, as she knew any painful reaction to the news she was given would only be fuel to the false guardian's constant hate. Grabbing the doorknob, she removed herself from the doctor's bedroom with a shaky sigh. _What am I going to do?_ Zen-Ya thought to herself as her back rested against the etched design upon the door.

Zen-Ya moved herself from the door she was resting upon soon enough before making it down the hall to her own bedroom. With everything in the clear, she wasn't sure what to feel, but then again, a part of her probably always knew what was to befall her in that room—even Spectre couldn't remove that completely from her mind no matter how hard he may try. Expelling a small, somber sigh, Zen-Ya pushed open the door to find herself greeted by an all too familiar voice.

"Where were you?" Spectre asked from where he stood there in the center of their room. His voice appeared a bit nervous with an underlining tone of irritation that Zen-Ya seemed to lack the ability to listen to him.

"I was…I was just walking around Haven." Zen-Ya was well aware that her voice sounded very saddened, and it was coming out to be a lousy lie, but she didn't have it in her to be very convincing.

"You're lying to me," Spectre pointed out as his red eyes watched her body drift over towards the old bed. He would have probed further, but he noticed the way he was carrying herself—just like a beaten dog. "Zen-Ya? What's the matter?"

Resting her arms on either side of her thighs, Zen-Ya shook her head upon lowering it. "I know you're going to be mad at me," she mumbled, the old bed creaking under her bodyweight when she sat down. "However, I went to Dr. Finitevus to talk to him about that night."

"Why!" Spectre exclaimed instantly at the end of her sentence. Quickly, he made his way over to her to hold onto her upper arms. "Why would you do that! I thought I told you not to!"

Zen-Ya shook her head once more, trying to keep her tears from falling but to no avail. "I always knew what was going to happen to me," she said through her strained words. "You had become so distant leading up to that night—more so than usual—you wouldn't eat, you hardly slept…you were one big mess…"

Spectre knew trying to pass his emotions off as an old echidna just waiting to die would be a waste of his breath, so he withheld the idea. "Zen-Ya…I..." Spectre's words trailed off as he wasn't even sure what excuse he could possibly make to explain why he kept it all from her. "I'm sorry," he whispered, not having the courage to look at her in the dimly lit room. "I shouldn't have dragged you into this. I just-I just thought I had more time, is all."

"More time for what?" Zen-Ya asked, placing her hand upon the side of his metal helmet.

Feeling her hand nearby, the elder reached for her forearm to hold it in a tight, almost reassuring, grip. "I thought I would find a way to make it all right again. While none of the guardians before me have ever been bold enough to stop a ritual while it was happening, I was the first, but I was unsuccessful. I was hoping if I died in place of Kali-Ka, it would disrupt everything and maybe something might happen…something positive, anyways. When Locke became brave enough to step in for Lara-Le's sake, well…we've seen what 'good' it did."

"Everyone's just going insane," she sighed, looking away from Spectre in shame. Remembering what Finitevus had said about her husband's immortality, Zen-Ya furrowed her brow in worry. "Spectre, maybe it would be wise just to let me fulfill the purpose that was planned since the moment I married you."

"Don't say that," Spectre growled with a shake of his head. "The ritual has already failed, Zen-Ya, and we don't even know if yours and Lady Lara-Le's death will even make things right. If you both go into this and die for no damn reason, how in the hell do you think that will make me feel!"

"Then what do we do?" Zen-Ya asked, shaking her head with a worried frown. Her tears continued to streak down her face, causing her blond and brown strands of hair to stick to her dampened muzzle a bit as she continued to cry. "You don't want to leave this village, just as I don't want to either in fear of what may happen to those who stay…" Zen-Ya's words trailed off a bit as she lowered her head in shame. "I know that…if I don't at least sate Enerjak's anger, he could easily kill all of you guardians by revoking your immortality…"

Spectre froze before looking over at Zen-Ya with a shadowed raise of his brow. "Is that why you're so eager to throw your life away?" When his wife didn't respond, the guardian sat down beside her. "Do you honestly think me that selfish? Zen-Ya, I've lived far beyond my lifetime, and I can say I am more than blessed in that regard, but your years are numbered compared to mine." When he heard her scoff at his comment, Spectre shook his head. "I didn't mean that—the ritual—what I meant was, your exposure to me can only last so long when it comes to the immortality I unwittingly give you, but since you don't actually study or train with the chaos energies, it will be all too easy for you to die way before my time."

Her husband's words seemed stressed with sorrow. Zen-Ya smiled briefly as she reached over to Spectre to hug him tightly while burying her nose into his chest. "I still have faith that we'll find a way out of this," Zen-Ya whispered between them. Gently grabbed onto the edge of his helmet, the orange furred echidna leaned forwards to kiss the corner of his mouth.

Knowing what she was hinting at, Spectre tried to resist the idea with a raise of his hand. "Zen-Ya, this isn't—."

Taking his gloved hand into her own, she smiled best she could through the emotional pain. "Spectre, what harm could it possibly do? Besides, I don't think you being passionate to me for once in your many years of life will certainly hurt anything." When he refused to remove his helmet at the very least, Zen-Ya began to do that for him.

The guardian didn't resist as she had already seen his tattered and partially robotic dreadlocks before. His red eyes looked over at Zen-Ya's icy blue with the same neutral frown as always. "You're going to make things harder if I don't find a way to stop the next ritual attempt," he pointed out seriously.

"All the more reason you should allow me to love you," Zen-Ya insisted even if her own heart ached at the thought of being torn from him. "You cannot possibly think that by shutting me out it will make my death any easier." When Spectre attempted to look away from her, Zen-Ya raised her hand to his cheek to gently force him to gaze back at her. "We need to focus on the here and now while we have that opportunity."

Knowing she was right, Spectre moved his hand towards her dreadlocks to run his fingers through them in an almost reassuring fashion that she was still there before him. He had thought that night of the ritual that he had lost her forever. Hearing the jingle from the broken links upon her shackle on her right wrist brought him back to his senses. "You really should allow me to remove that," he whispered between them. "I know you only kept it on because you figured it was a link to that moment I wiped your memory."

Zen-Ya looked at the broken manacle with a slight hum. "I did but, even though I know the truth, I want you to leave it." Seeing the candlelight illuminate his confused features, Zen-Ya continued: "I often at times forget it's there. Besides, it is a reminder of a lot of things…"

Worried he might ask further questions, Zen-Ya halted the idea by kissing him lovingly in hopes it would lull the guardian into a more affectionate manner. She could feel him tense under her affections for a moment until relaxing into it finally. Helping him down to the old bed that could easily hold the both of them, Zen-Ya eventually pulled from the deep kiss to get lost within his eyes once more. "Stop being so afraid to love me," she pleaded.

**(-EDIT-)**

Spectre moved over onto his side, so he wouldn't have to worry about accidentally crushing her with his weight. Moving his arms from his chest, he positioned Zen-Ya closer to himself to give her the loving atmosphere that she craved so much. Closing his eyes, he sighed softly to himself as he could only wonder when this sort of moment would end for good. Spectre rested his chin upon the top of her head as he tried to think of what to do. _There's got to be an answer to this_, Spectre thought. _There has to be a way we can rid the emerald of the evil that's been lurking within it to begin with._

"I love you," Zen-Ya whispered, breaking Spectre from his thoughts. Her eyes were closed, as she was emotionally and now physically warn out from the day. When she heard her mate hum in regards to her words, she chuckled softly. "You don't have to say it in return," she said groggily. "I just want you to know."

Spectre paused for a little while until finally finding his words. "I love you too," he said softly in return. The guardian would have told her to get some rest, but he felt that was pointless as he could easily tell she fell asleep without the suggestion.

Ze-Ya's nightmares would still take affect regarding that blurry night. She could easily see herself shackled down with her back facing the Master Emerald from where Thunderhawk had no doubt taken her against his will. _**"Please…please, don't…!" **_Zen-Ya recalled herself begging tearfully, her body tensing as the emerald fires started to bite at her left arm from where she got the horrible burn.

She could see herself screaming from the torment that she was about to endure. In her heart, she could feel that it was no doubt almost over for her in the nightmare she was witnessing until she saw the shackle on her left wrist get completely broken off thanks to a chaos blast she saw come from another part of the room while the chain on the other was only broken to allow her freedom from being offered to the chaos demigod inside of the emerald. When she managed to find her feet, her tearful eyes turned to the ones responsible, and noticed that Locke was able to free her with Spectre's help.

Zen-Ya's body stumbled about the chamber, as she noticed Locke and Dr. Finitevus yelling at one another before she fell into Spectre's arms just near the exit to the room. _**"Get out of here…NOW!"**_ Spectre demanded, when he could see how terrified she was.

When she managed to make it out of the room, Zen-Ya heard the other voice not far from the Chaos Chamber. _**"Zen-Ya; Zen-Ya, this way!"**_ Trying to focus on the familiar tone, it was then it clicked on who it was as she saw herself running towards the once faceless figure in the darkness. It was Remington who was trying to escort her out of harm's way.

She saw herself throw her arms around him tightly as she shook in complete and total fear. Remington tried to settle her, but with all the screaming and yelling he could hear, he couldn't help but push Zen-Ya back at arms length to try and look into her eyes. _**"Where are the others!"**_ his voice exclaimed in worry. _**"Where are they!" **_When she didn't respond, Remington shook her gently. _**"Where are the other wives!"**_

Zen-Ya shook her head as she continued to cry from what she had obviously witnessed in that room, but a part of her feared to even remember it. _**"They're dead…"**_ she said in utter horror. _**"They're dead…!"**_

Inhaling sharply, Zen-Ya came back to herself and shook the nightmare from her best she could. Realizing she was sweating, she tried to wipe her forehead with the back of her hand until noticing that Spectre wasn't in the bed with her anymore. "Spectre…?" Looking around the room and finding it void of his presence, she sighed with a roll of her eyes. "I swear, he's good at that."

Removing the covers from her body, Zen-Ya managed to make it to her feet regardless of the pain that was in her thighs. She was about to venture to the bathroom when she noticed the same note was on both the front and back doors. Furrowing her brow in confusion, she removed the one to the back door to read it.

_Don't open the doors for __anyone__ but me—lock them if you have to. I will try to be back soon._

_~Spectre_

The tone of the notes had her worried. Zen-Ya let the one she held drift to the floor as she hurried into the bathroom, after locking the front and back doors, in hopes to take her mind off of things. Since she didn't have to worry about her clothes, she merely worked on getting the water warm enough while propping a wooden chair up against the washroom entrance for the time being to keep anybody from walking in on her. Zen-Ya couldn't help but feel that something might come in and drag her to the Chaos Chamber to be killed.

"I am not ready," she whispered to herself, backing up to the edge of the marble tub. "I am not ready…"

With her eyes so fixated on the door she had just barricaded, Zen-Ya hadn't noticed that the liquid filling up the tub was feeling different against her hand until she realized it was becoming a lot thicker than it should. Furrowing her brow in confusion, Zen-Ya reluctantly turned her head to look down at what she thought was water only to find that the rage of the moon was starting to play tricks with her again, and that the water wasn't that, but was blood yet again.

Catching her scream in her throat, she felt her heart racing as she slowly pulled her fingers from the tub to see that they too were now covered in it. Biting her lower lip, she shook her head. "It's not real…it's not real…" Zen-Ya repeated again and again, wanting to try and beat the hallucinations. Her words halted, however, as she saw bubbles starting to surface from the bottom of the tub. Swallowing harshly, Zen-Ya cautiously leaned over the edge of the marble tub to get a better look.

It was only a moment of silence until an undefined echidna female with a decomposed looking body screamed at her while trying to reach for Zen-Ya as if to pull her under. Seeing the eyeless sockets, the frightened woman couldn't hold back her fear anymore, and Zen-Ya finally screamed while heading quickly for the exit of the small bathroom. Pulling the chair out of her way, she threw open the door and hurried out into the main living area in a panic. She was so focused on the bathroom that she didn't notice Spectre standing right there waiting for her as he had just teleported into the room from outside.

Feeling her quiver and nearly push him away, Spectre was quick to react. "What is it! What's wrong!" he exclaimed in worry, wrapping her naked form in his tattered clothing.

Zen-Ya knew it would sound crazy if she said anything aloud, so all she did was shake her head as she cried. "I just can't live like this," she whimpered through her tears, weakly banging her fist upon his chest. "Please…either think of a solution to this, or let's find a way to get out of here with everybody who wishes to come…!"

"I was talking to the spirits of the Brotherhood again with some of the active members as well," Spectre said seriously. "The spirits told us Enerjak's rage is worsening, and they will be unable to hold him back for much longer." He paused, as if reluctant to continue. "There is a solution." When she looked up at him, he sighed. "The Brotherhood could shatter the Master Emerald and then work on purifying the pieces and rebuilding it."

"Y-You sound worried…why are you worried…?" Zen-Ya demanded to know, holding onto him tightly.

"If we do this to the Master Emerald, there are a few things that may or may not happen," Spectre explained. "First of all, if it shatters, it could be that the pieces scatter beyond our village, and we would have to go and search for each one to put it back together. In this process, we would slowly be losing our immortality and strength since we don't have a physical emerald to draw power from. We would have to either find a shard of it or find another chaos emerald somewhere to draw power from…_**if**_ we're able to. Second, if we do this, there is a high possibility Enerjak will just be freed anyways and try to destroy Angel Village and everything on this planet, though we are hoping that his power will weaken and his body will be split by doing this. Thirdly…" Spectre's words derailed, as he struggled to continue. "…Thirdly….it could be that if we destroy it, the pieces could disintegrate completely from the force, and all of the guardians left alive could die."

Zen-Ya's jaw dropped as she shook her head at the possibilities with a shaky breath. "So…so I could basically lose you…?"

"We don't know that, Zen-Ya," Spectre answered with a shake of his head, trying to keep her still in his arms. "We don't know if that will happen out of the situations I discussed with the others."

Shaking her head, she buried her face into his chest to try and conceal her sorrow. "I don't want to lose you, Spectre…! I don't want to imagine this world without you…"

"Something has to be done," Spectre insisted, allowing her to hold onto him as she desired. "The entire village—you—everybody is going insane from this constant, blood red moon. If we don't do something, people will lose their grip on sanity and start killing one another." Expelling a heavy sigh, he managed to get his wife to look at him. "I know the idea of losing me will be hard, but in the end, something has to be done." When her expression didn't change, he continued: "I've lived hundreds of years…like I said, you deserve more time on this planet compared to myself."

Zen-Ya knew it was hard to argue with him. In the end, something needed to be done to spare all of those that were now suffering. "I guess I don't have a right to be selfish," she said, feeling her heart squeeze in the process. With her husband placing his hand upon her cheek, she quickly held onto his wrist to keep it there. "When do you plan on doing this?"

"Finitevus is demanding we all stay indoors for the time being," Spectre answered, his thumb moving slightly about her cheek. "He also has called another meeting late in the afternoon, so myself and the others have to be there for it."

"You still sound uneasy," Zen-Ya pointed out, her own orange fur standing on end at the eeriness of his heavy tone.

"Because Sojourner has been saying that he believes Dr. Finitevus is catching onto us—me especially," said the guardian with a nasally breath. "While I would love to see him try and contain me from this mission we all have planned, I am not going to let him stand in my way."

Zen-Ya looked over at the clock, catching the time and noting that she only had a few measly hours left with him until he was to leave once more—and possibly, for good. "Did you want me to make you something to eat? You've not eaten properly in…well…I am not sure how long, but it can't be healthy."

"I am not too concerned about food," Spectre answered, keeping his eyes locked on the front door, which led into the bedroom hallway. He could hear a few people walking back and forth just beyond it, and it was making him nervous. Admittedly, he didn't want to tell her to take what food she could from their storage area and find a better life for herself if he did indeed die. He knew she would punch him for that.

Knowing what he was focused on, Zen-Ya reached up to his cheek to try and get the guard dog to relax. "Humor me?"

"What about yourself?" Spectre wondered, as he watched her head for the storage room. "Not only have you not eaten properly either, but I am guessing you didn't bathe as you had planned?" He could still smell that she hadn't, and Zen-Ya hadn't bothered to clothe herself.

Blushing at his comment about the shower, Zen-Ya tried to look agitated at his prying. "Something just…startled me from doing so. As far as eating is concerned, would you want to eat either when you know your life is—." Pausing, she lowered her head with a heavy sigh, "…Sorry." Looking over her shoulder at him, the young woman shrugged her shoulders. "I guess I know why you've been acting weird about food. You know one of us is going to die, and I guess it's just the last thing on your mind right now."

Deciding to change the topic, Spectre walked past her and to the washroom to look inside to find nothing awkward or startling about the space. "Well, whatever startled you isn't here now. Do you want to come and look?"

Zen-Ya looked up at her husband with an unimpressed look through her wavy, bi-colored hair, which spilled over her headband. "I don't need you to check the 'monsters' under my bed."

"Well, this isn't under your bed," he insisted, reaching for her as she stepped closer, "it's apparently the monsters in our bathroom."

Getting close enough, Zen-Ya peered into the bathroom to indeed see that everything was back as it was. Catching his witty remark, however, she lightly jabbed him in the chest with her elbow. "Don't start," she growled. Embracing herself, she made it closer to the marble tub to see that the water she had left within it was back to normal. "Okay, so I guess everything is alright now."

"It's just the moon, Zen-Ya," Spectre said to her, as he tested the warmth of the water himself with his left hand. "It's still warm enough. You could still bathe if you wanted." Seeing his wife about to resist the idea, he rolled his eyes (since she couldn't see him doing so). "I can stay here if you want."

"What if I see you as something unnatural too…?" Zen-Ya asked. She hadn't been that exposed to the anger of Enerjak, but she still worried that could become the case.

"All you have to say is 'get away from me', and I will leave then," said the guardian, as he leaned against the walls of the bathroom close to the tub.

"You've been exposed to it far worse than I have," she commented while getting into the water finally in attempts to relax. "I am still surprised you're not seeing things and going crazy."

Spectre crossed his arms over his chest, humming in thought. "I am seeing things, but I know it's not real," he said simply. As he remained there for a few minutes with Zen-Ya a knock on the bathroom door startled him and his mate both. The dark colored furs hidden under his attire stood up as he ventured closely to the door. "Who is it?"

Whoever it was, Zen-Ya couldn't hear them too well, as they appeared to be whispering to Spectre. It seemed to be one of the Brotherhood members, however, as the irritation and tension in the old guardian relaxed shortly after hearing the name that was no doubt presented to him. "Spectre…?" she called, watching as he came back to the tub quickly.

"Dr. Finitevus is calling the meeting together earlier than planned," Spectre announced between them as he hated the idea of leaving her alone with her mind playing tricks on her. "I will try to hurry back. Be safe, Zen-Ya."

He was in such a hurry that Zen-Ya didn't even have time to respond. She wanted to tell him she loved him, just in case events wouldn't allow her to. When she heard the front door shut, she sighed to herself. "I love you too," Zen-Ya mumbled as she raised her left leg out of the water, so she could work on washing it.

As she remained there alone in the bathroom, Zen-Ya could hear the faint sound of whispers and distant screams. Her icy-blue eyes looking around to realize it was the anger of the demigod playing tricks on her again, she closed her eyes tightly and sunk under the bath water in hopes to drown them all out. Try as she might, the haunting sounds wouldn't leave her be, nearly making Zen-Ya want to scream. Upon being reminded that she was under water and would be unable to, she opened her eyes quickly to notice that somebody was standing near the edge of the tub. _Spectre…?_ She wondered, as she noticed they were wearing a hood of some sort, but the ripples of the water made the actual image unclear.

Making it to the surface of the water, she only took a single breath when a metallic claw came right at her to grab her by the neck and pin her to the wall beside her. Unable to scream, she frantically clawed away at the metal arm, but to no avail. Breathing heavily, she shook the damp hair from her face to notice that it was Kragok that had her with two hooded legionnaires behind him with their guns aimed directly at her. "K-Kragok…!" she coughed, as her heart's rapid beating was making it hard for her to even speak.

"I wish I could have just drowned you in the tub, but the doctor would have been really furious with me if I had…same for Lord Enerjak," Kragok commented with a sick grin. "While the guardians are occupied, let's see if my sister and I can't get you and Lara-Le back to the Chaos Chamber, where the both of you should have died to begin with!"


	9. Chapter 9

Zen-Ya attempted to fight back or at least scream for help, but in her pathetic attempts to do so, Kragok knocked her out completely, and she would find herself awakening much later within the Chaos Chamber once more. Trying to focus on the space around her, she saw that the candles were lit though a majority of the light illuminating the space was from the actual emerald itself. As she attempted to move her bound wrists from where they were against the wall, Zen-Ya realized that she was shackled tightly from neck to ankles upon one of the surrounding pillars about the emerald.

"Zen-Ya…!" a familiar, weary voice beckoned from beside her.

Turning her head quickly, the young echidna noticed Lara-Le to the left of her in the same predicament. "S-Sister, Lara-Le…!" she gasped, wishing she had the energy or the strength to rip her bindings off, but Zen-Ya found herself weaker than normal. "What's…what's going on…?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Lien-Da chuckled darkly from where she stood before the two. "The doctor knew the best way to get the guardians to behave—Spectre and Sabre especially—was to occupy them with a little meeting about this arrangement you both find yourselves within." Keeping her whip secured in her right hand, the pink haired legionnaire echidna started to pace back and forth with a smirk hooked upon her muzzle. "Not that it matters. Dr. Finitevus still has plans for the both of you to meet the fate you managed to dodge out of those many days ago."

Zen-Ya wanted to be snarky in return to Lien-Da's comments, but she stopped herself. She didn't want to act hopeful. If Spectre or any of the other guardians did stop the ritual, she would possibly be forced to endure life without her husband or, worse yet, slowly watch him die.

"No witty remarks? I am surprised—especially at you, Zen-Ya," said Lien-Da as she cracked her whip idly upon the floorboards. "It looks like you're pretty much ready to be reunited with the others that gave their life to the emerald and to Lord Enerjak."

Glaring irritably at Lien-Da, Zen-Ya huffed lowly. "I have my reasons…none of which concerns you."

Lara-Le listened to the exchange, waiting for Lien-Da to occupy herself elsewhere in the room with the other hooded legionnaires watching close by. "You seemed ready to accept your death," she whispered to Zen-Ya with a furrow of her wrinkled brow. "Whatever is the matter with you…? Everything you'll ever need is right here on this plane of existence, but not for me."

"It's a long story, sister," Zen-Ya whispered somberly as the shackles jingled slightly upon her weary movements. "I just…I would rather be burned alive by the Master Emerald than think about Spectre dying in my place."

"I am sure Spectre thinks differently," Lara-Le said softly in return. "I know Locke did…" Closing her eyes tightly to prevent the tears from surfacing, Lara-Le turned her attention from Zen-Ya. "Having to be alive for so long and watching each wife you have be burned alive must be hard for them. I cannot imagine being in their place."

No matter how she juggled the outcomes in her mind, Zen-Ya found either one of them difficult to accept. Her thoughts were brought to a quick close when she heard the front doors to the chamber open rather abruptly. Seeing the dark fog covering the doorway, Zen-Ya shook her head several times, knowing who it was.

The chaos blasts, which shot forth from behind the dark shroud, managed to take out a few legionnaires that were guarding the area. With the guardians finally coming into sight, Spectre glided forth with his teeth bared and his eyes enflamed with fury. Zen-Ya caught her breath at the sight of him looking so enraged.

The sound of a gun charging nearby her and Lara-Le, Zen-Ya panicked at the sudden appearance of Dr. Finitevus who had used a warp ring to get to the chamber at the same time as the guardians. He had taken one of the fallen legionnaire's guns and was ready to use one on either or both of the wives. "Stop this, Guardians!" Finitevus demanded furiously, as he kept the gun aimed behind him where the two wives were.

"You wouldn't…!" Thunderhawk growled, attempting to call the doctor's bluff. "If you just shot them, you'd end up back to square one!"

"The question here is would you be willing to take me up on that offer and be responsible for not only their deaths, but responsible for the madness that will ensue afterwards," Finitevus smirked with that same, demented grin.

"Thunderhawk!" Spectre scolded, seeing the lilac echidna attempt to step forwards. Looking at the other guardians, he nodded at them to release the legionnaires they currently held and to stand down for the time being before gazing furiously back at Finitevus. "If you need a damn sacrifice for this ritual, just take me."

Finitevus stepped closer between the two women as he kept his demented sight upon the current line of guardians. "That's not how this works, Guardian, and you know this," Finitevus hissed as the edge of the gun rested against the side of Zen-Ya's head. "A woman has to be the sacrifice—a woman who is exposed to the Master Emerald's energies. That was what was decided years ago, and that's how it is to continue!"

Spectre was worried about trying to anger the doctor. With the gun Finitevus held so close to his wife's head, he knew the next thing either of them said or did could determine whether she lived or died.

"What do we do?" Sojourner whispered to the others, as he was at a loss when it came to an opening to intervene and stop Finitevus.

Releasing a nasally sigh of defeat, Spectre raised his hands hesitantly in surrender. He knew even his teleportation wouldn't be fast enough to stop the gun from going off should Finitevus fire it.

Seeing the other guardians reluctantly follow in Spectre's actions, Finitevus grinned as the legionnaires that were left alive were quick to get them to their knees with their weapons aimed at them from the sides and the back. "Smart choice," the doctor scoffed, removing the gun from where it rested against Zen-Ya's head. "I am sure your wife and Lara-Le wouldn't want to die so senselessly just for your meaningless heroics."

Zen-Ya's bound hands tightened as she tried to muster what courage she could at the idea of dying a more painful death just for the sake of her husband's life and the sanity of others. "Please…" Zen-Ya begged softly. "If you're going to kill me, just…get it over with already." Lara-Le didn't seem to object to the idea either. If anything, she had given up living ever since Locke had thrown his life on the line for her, but even he was aware it only bought her time at best.

"Normally, I'd like to watch you squirm, but since I don't trust the guardians all that much not to mess shit up again," Finitevus commented, as he worked on unbinding Zen-Ya first, "I'll do as you ask."

Seeing his wife and Lara-Le about to head back to the stand before the chaos emerald, Spectre's body tensed. Threatening to move, he was reminded by the legionnaires nearby why it would be unwise to do so. "Dr. Finitevus," Spectre spoke up quickly, "the least you could do is let me say 'goodbye' to Zen-Ya."

"You've had plenty of time to say your goodbyes," the white echidna grumbled, keeping the gun aimed at the back of Zen-Ya's head incase Spectre became bold enough to try something.

"If you want me to beg, I'll beg, dammit," the elder growled lowly, not desiring to do such a thing, but if that's what it took to at least hold his mate one last time, he'd do so.

Finitevus stared at Spectre for a moment until finally making his decision. Grabbing onto Zen-Ya's arm, he ushered the woman over to her husband with an irritable huff as he pushed her forwards. "You've got sixty seconds, so you better make it count," he insisted, keeping the weapon at ready just in case something was to unfold.

Falling before Spectre, Zen-Ya kept her head lowered, as she didn't have the courage to look him in the eyes. She felt ashamed to have gotten captured so easily and that she was doing the one thing he didn't want her to do. "I'm sorry," she whispered through her tears. "I have to do this…"

Spectre embraced her tightly, feeling his heart ache at the idea of losing her. "No…no, you don't…" His red eyes quickly shifted over towards Thunderhawk, who was closest to him in the line, before going back to focusing on his wife. "I know you're going to hate me for this," he whispered to Zen-Ya as he wrapped her bound and naked form tightly in his tattered attire before teleporting out of the way and towards the exit to the Chaos Chamber.

"_**STOP HIM!**_" Finitevus demanded, firing his own weapon at the guardian attempting to escape.

During the commotion, Thunderhawk quickly got to his feet and ran towards Lara-Le while the others were trying to fight off the legionnaires. "Behind you!" Lara-Le screamed, as she saw one of the hooded echidnas approaching the unsuspecting guardian.

Thunderhawk was quick enough to knock out the solider with an elbow to his jaw, but the gun that the Dark Legionnaire held still went off, causing Thunderhawk to take a blast to the side. Hissing from the injury, he quickly covered it with his gloved hand to try and dull the pain as he did his best to escort Lara-Le out of harm's way as well.

"You're bleeding…!" Lara-Le pointed out as she tried to help the guardian out of the Chaos Chamber more so than he himself could do for her.

"It's nothing," Thunderhawk hissed, as his white glove was starting to stain red from trying to conceal his wound. "I've endured worse than this, and I am sure I'll continue to do so…!"

Finitevus watched as his plans started to crumble around him, making his fury slowly rise up within him as he headed towards the Master Emerald. "You all are willing to pull out all the stops…then fine!" His fingers gracing the emerald, Finitevus worked on concentrating his energy. "I will fight right back with Lord Enerjak driving my power!"

"How could you do that!" Zen-Ya exclaimed, pushing against her husband angrily. Tears still blurring her vision, she brought her hands towards her face. "I told you I was willing to accept my fate—my fate for us!"

"What do you mean 'us'!" Spectre retorted right back, grabbing onto her upper arms to shake her slightly. "I told you that I have a plan, and I am not going to let that insane asshole ruin it by causing you or Lady Lara-Le to throw your lives away!" Seeing her still crying, Spectre bent slightly to her level. "Listen to me. You're going to go with Thunderhawk and Lara-Le, and you're going to get the hell out of here even if I have to go so far as to knock you out myself!"

"I'm not going—!"

"I'm done playing around, Zen-Ya!" he yelled angrily only to stop for a moment as he felt the ground underneath them shaking.

"Wh-What's going on…?" Zen-Ya asked, trying to stand her ground only to find it difficult as the tremors grew worse.

Thunderhawk and Lara-Le even stopped in their tracks upon realizing that the ground was quaking beneath them. "The hell…?" the old guardian wheezed as he looked down at the ground not far from them to notice it was starting to split apart. "Run…_**Run!**_" Thunderhawk demanded to Lara-Le, as he urged her forwards.

As the terrain beneath them continued to divide, dark chaos power lurched forwards from the cracks in the form of hands to grab onto Lara-Le's ankles. "Thunderhawk!" she screamed, trying to dig her nails into the ground as the energy was attempting to pull her towards the broken earth.

Grabbing Lara-Le's hands, the old guardian tried to pull her to safety, but with his injury, it was proving difficult. Powering up his right hand with his own chaos attack, Thunderhawk unleashed it upon the darker version of the chaos energy that had Lara-Le—relieved to see that it did the trick and gave him enough time to escape with her. "Come on!" he encouraged, heading as quickly as he could towards Spectre and Zen-Ya.

"I recognize that energy anywhere," Spectre commented gravely, looking back at the Chaos Chamber to watch in utter horror as the building was demolished completely by Finitevus who was wearing a white and gold armor similar in sorts to the Enerjak picture in the old tombs back at Haven. "You've got to be kidding me…!"

Zen-Ya covered her mouth as Thunderhawk swore in disbelief. "Holy shit…! He converged with the spirit of Enerjak!"

Spectre watched as Sabre and Sojourner were doing their absolute best to continue fighting against the new version of Finitevus to notice something off about the power when Thunderhawk fought it himself just a second ago. "Looks like he's only taken part of Enerjak's power…Look!" Spectre insisted, pointing to the battle back at the former Chaos Chamber building. "Sabre and Sojourner aren't getting a hit in well enough at the close range they're fighting, but when his power came after you and Lara-Le, you were able to one-shot it."

"So, he's bad at multitasking," Thunderhawk joked lightly with a shrug. "In order to stop it completely, we have to destroy the emerald, but he's right in front of it, and Sabre and Sojourner aren't distracting him well enough!"

"It could deal with distance from the emerald, not distraction," Spectre insisted, raising his brow at his son. "I'll mentally link up to Sabre and Sojourner—tell them to move him away from the emerald best they can while you make sure he doesn't get a hold of Zen-Ya and Lara-Le!"

"What about you?" Thunderhawk asked.

"I'm the only one of us strong enough to stop an energized Master Emerald," Spectre commented lowly.

Zen-Ya ran to her husband's side, holding onto him tightly. "No…no, you're not going to do that, are you!" Her fingers digging into his tattered attire, she watched as Sabre and Sojourner apparently got Spectre's mental message as they attempted to lure the empowered scientist out of the former chamber area and into the surrounding woods. "Spectre, please…! I am willing to give my life for you!"

"You shouldn't have to," the hooded guardian commented seriously. "You need to let me go, as we don't have much time for this."

Biting her lower lip, Zen-Ya took in a shaky breath realizing he was right—that this wasn't the best time to fight over who should do what. "Please come back to me," she practically begged to herself as Lara-Le came from behind her to gently pull her off of Spectre.

He knew he couldn't make that promise. Spectre gazed over his shoulder at his son. "Watch over them for me…at least for as long as you are able." Seeing the reassuring nod was enough to allow Spectre to teleport out of the area and hurry quickly to the emerald.

"I will make you all see things may way," Finitevus roared angrily as he continued to use his dark power to try and ward off Sabre and Sojourner. "I don't care if that means brainwashing you all to do so and making you all my personal puppets! I should have done so from the very beginning!"

Staying low to the ground, Spectre came upon the edge of the emerald as Finitevus' back was at least facing it now. With the emerald sparking with dark power, the cries of the dead were nearly maddening for the guardian, but he did his best to ignore it for now as he touched the gem with his left hand. His gloved hand burning slightly from the darkness that engulfed it, he hissed silently to himself in dismay. "Going to have to use my other hand," he muttered to himself.

However, the slight pulse from the guardian touching the Master Emerald was enough to cause Finitevus to stop his assault on Sabre and Sojourner to turn back around and notice Spectre there. "_**YOU!**_" he growled angrily, attempting to turn his focus completely on the disobedient elder, but the other two continued to try and divide his attention.

Reaching his boiling point, the scientist turned quickly to use his corrupted chaos powers to shackle down Sabre and Sojourner before turning completely onto Spectre. "I would really enjoy ripping you apart…piece by piece," Finitevus snarled, showing his fangs from underneath the white and gold Anubis shaped helm. "However, since that woman seems to mean the world to you, I may just let you stay alive long enough to watch as she burns alive and let you live out the rest of your life suffering from the loss!"

Rearing back his right hand empowered by his own chaos energy, Spectre stared down the false guardian. "Don't think I am not afraid to smash this thing!"

"Would you really be that selfish!" Finitevus yelled irritably, lowering himself slowly to the ground. "You guardians may have crunched the numbers, but you don't have the slightest idea what will happen in the end! You would really put your wife through such hell as to slowly watch you die right before her eyes as you have with your own wives?" Seeing the guardian hesitate for a moment, Finitevus smirked gleefully at Spectre apparently losing his nerve to do such a thing. "In the end, it's either you or her, so tell me—which do you choose?"

Spectre looked from his bound grandchildren to his son and wife. He also couldn't help but think of the people around him who had to suffer through this constant insanity of Enerjak's ongoing rage of the ritual being disrupted. Looking back at Finitevus, he took in a deep breath before reaching his decision.

**TWO MONTHS LATER**

With the sun steadily peeking over the horizon, Remington moved the branches out of his line of sight to get a better view of the coming dawn. "Everything looks clear to me, Guardian," the constable called back at the mouth of the cave not far from where he stood.

Spectre made his way out of the cave's entrance slowly with a slight grunt at his body feeling out of sorts. "Glad to know that the Moon of Madness only comes out at night now. That I can deal with…" his voice trailed off a bit, as he still felt burdened by it still existing.

"I think those that turned into insane monsters would disagree," Remington pointed out, feeling a bit in between on what happened that night two months ago. Knowing that Spectre wouldn't come back at him with logic or even anger, he sighed while crossing his arms upon his chest. "So, where to now? What does that tracking device of yours tell you?"

Shaking his head at Remington's comments, he rid the thought from his mind as he dug into his attire to pull out a handheld device Sabre had been tampering with a month ago to locate the shattered pieces of the Master Emerald. "Continue to head north. There are at least two pieces nearby that we might come across."

"I'll go on ahead," Remington insisted with a wave of his hand. "Make sure none of those things are in our path as you're in no condition to fight them as you are, Guardian."

Since the Master Emerald had been shattered, the guardians were slowly losing their power and immortality. While still able to fight, Spectre wasn't as strong as he once was, and he knew the others weren't either. "I sure hope the others found a piece to draw energy from by now," the old guardian commented mostly to himself.

As he sat down upon a nearby rock formation, he felt someone's hands creep up upon his shoulders. It startled him for a second, but he relaxed upon realizing who it must have been. Sighing with a shake of his head, he rubbed his wife's knuckles. "Don't do that," Spectre insisted to Zen-Ya. "I am not as alert as I once was."

She could hear the exhaustion in his voice as he spoke. Her heart squeezed with pain, but it quickly went away when she realized the outcome of that night could have been far worse. "I'm sorry," Zen-Ya apologized, kissing his cheek. As she looked about the area, she noticed that the constable was nowhere to be found. "Where is Remington?"

Spectre motioned down the rocky hillside path before them before bringing his fingers to his forehead. "He went on ahead to check and make sure everything is clear—that there are no insane creatures in our way."

"We're going to find the pieces, Spectre," Zen-Ya encouraged, trying to keep her mate in high spirits. "We're going to find them, and we'll put them back together. Everything will go back to the way it was again; you'll see."

With the constable coming back into view, Remington motioned for them to follow. "Everything looks alright. I could hear wails and what have you about midway, but it seemed pretty distant, so I don't think we have to worry about any trouble for the time being."

"I'll take your word for it," Spectre grunted, as he got to his mechanical feet with the help of Zen-Ya. "I can handle a pack of them, anyways." Nodding towards the constable, Spectre got Zen-Ya to head to the center of the line. He wanted to take up the rear and watch their back in case anything came from behind them. Steadily making his way down the hilly path, his mind often wandered back to that night, as he had hoped he did the right thing.

**THE END**

**Author's Notes**: I did decide to make the family tree go Spectre, Thunderhawk, Sojourner, even if by canon standards, it's not. XD Back in yee older years...they couldn't get it right, and I grew weirdly accustomed to that line of the guardian tree-not the other. Not that it matters. :) I'll probably swap the line back and forth as I go along on other stories!**  
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